The development of women combatant roles in contemporary armed conflict : the case of Colombia

Abstract

This study focuses on women's involvement in armed conflict, specifically dealing with their roles as agents of political violence. Particularly I analyse the female participation in the armed struggle within the insurgent group "Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia". Feminist theories constitute the theoretical framework of this analysis, in order to discuss the role played by women combatants in Colombia. The central point is to understand the needs of women combatants while taking into account the relationship between their involvement in the armed struggle, the specific goals they achieved in gender equality within the armed . groups, and the role that society could give them during the postconflict reconstruction. Additionally, this study shows that myths of women warriors are used to pull women into the fight. Gender equality issues are instrumental in framing the female participation. Nevertheless within insurgent groups, women face difficulties to challenge sexist stereotypes intrinsic to native culture, which could lead to the female exclusion from peace building process, thus misunderstanding their specific attributes as women and as combatants.