Beyond women and men: how extractive projects perpetuate gendered violence against environmental defenders in Southeast Asia

Abstract

Discussion of gendered violence during environmental conflicts often centers on women’s issues without situating them within broader discrimination affecting all people. This cross-regional analysis compares violence in 25 Southeast Asian environmental conflicts. In this paper, I argue that women, men, and gender-diverse people experience differently gendered and contextual manifestations of violence. Extractivist encroachment intensifies or introduces dynamics stratifying power unevenly across gender and other marginalities. Ensuing hegemonic gender violence is partly caused by rigid definitions of who can have a voice. Thus, subverting hegemonic narratives can mitigate violence.