(iPoster) Women in Pro-Government Militias and Sexual Violence

• In Event: Poster Sessions: Health Politics and Policy & Wartime Violence, Armed Actors, and Civilian Agency
  In Poster Session: Poster Session: Wartime Violence, Armed Actors, and Civilian Agency

Abstract

An extensive body of literature examines whether the presence of female combatants is associated with restraint in the perpetration of sexual violence by armed groups. Much of this work focuses on women in rebel organizations or the official armed forces of countries. However, less work investigates how the presence of women in pro-government militias (PGMs) affects their perpetration of sexual violence, even though our original data collection efforts reveal that over one-fifth of these organizations recruit women into combat roles. We expect that PGMs that recruit women into combat roles are more likely to perpetrate sexual violence because such groups (1) often recruit women as part of their efforts to repress women in the general population and (2) often struggle with internal cohesion, which, as prior research shows, sexual violence can help foster. We collect novel data on women’s participation in PGMs and the perpetration of sexual violence by PGMs. Using these data, we find consistent support for our argument that PGMs that recruit women are more likely to perpetrate sexual violence. Our study is the first, to the best of our knowledge, to quantitatively examine the recruitment of women and perpetration of sexual violence by PGMs.

Authors

• Michael James Soules, University of Houston

• Olayinka Abdulganiu Otesanya, University of Houston

• Brandon Lee Bolte, University of Illinois at Springfield

• Shelby Davis, University of Houston