Women's roles and positions in African wars

Abstract

This chapter explores women's varied roles and positions in Africa's wars from the precolonial to postcolonial era. It argues that the bulk of the literature on women's participation in wars have been focused on women's support to fighting men and not so much on their combatant roles. The lack of scholarly engagement with women's involvement in the fighting forces and how they negotiate their roles as cultural bearers of national identities shows that mainstream discourses continue to be gender blind, denying women their agency and political labor. Based on an examination of several African cases, this chapter argues that African women throughout history have been engaged at the logistical, ideological, and combatant levels as fighters, spies, and carriers and, at the same time, as sex slaves, wives, and mothers. The marginalization and diminution of women's unique roles and positions, and the effects of war participation on their lives, undermine their capacities in wars but also result in their absence in the national narratives of post-conflict peacebuilding projects of which male ex-combatants remain major beneficiaries. This chapter concludes that African women's agency in wars should form the core of knowledge and policy making on war, conflict management, conflict resolution, peacebuilding, and reconstruction efforts.