YPJ sniper at the Raqqa frontline in November 2016. 13 November 2016. Wikimedia Commons photo
Source: Kurdishstruggle, https://www.flickr.com/photos/kurdishstruggle/30867676501/
In the past several years, scholarly and practitioner communities
have been focusing on female participation in violent non-state
groups, like terrorist and insurgent organizations. Seeking an-
swers to “why women rebel” is important for not only building
secure communities and stable countries, but may also contrib-
ute to international peace. To help build fuller answers, howev-
er, we need to include female participation in militias as part of
the conversation as well.
Conceptually, women in conflict have been understudied
almost as much as militias. Militias, as a type of violent non-
state actor, have not warranted the same amount of attention as
terrorist, insurgent and organized crime groups. In many ways,
paramilitaries have been consigned to the “remainder bin” of
sub-state groups. Militias are local guardians that view them-
selves in a defensive light, protecting a specific political, ethnic,
tribal, religious or familial group from harm due to gaps that the
state is believed to be unable or unwilling to bridge. As local
18
guardians, militias act to provide political power, public safety,
or social autonomy for their particular communities.
Crucially, militias are linked to an important portion of the
Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda--the connection
between security for women, state security and international
stability. Empirical studies have demonstrated that countries
with higher rates of gender equality are less likely to use mili-
tary force to settle disputes. 1 Simply put, a nation’s respect for
women’s rights also makes it more pacific in its foreign policy.
Militias, like other violent non-state actors, have been connect-
ed to high levels of violence against women. 2 However, as the
WPS agenda makes clear, women must also be viewed as active
agents, rather than solely as passive victims, in conflicts. Female
participation in militias complicates the links between wom-
en, state security and international peace. Women have served
as key mobilizers for militia recruitment. For example, older
female community leaders controlled youth’s access to marriage-