WOMEN IN WAR AND AT WAR:
Recent Developments
18th – 19th September 2014 / University of Warwick
Call for papers
Women’s roles in war are complex and varied and are not limited to that of victims. During the Arab
Spring, women took to the streets protesting against oppressive regimes in North Africa and the Middle
East. We are also witnessing a significant rise in female political activism during conflict: many women
increasingly find Internet, blogs and social media a useful tool to fight oppression, advocate change but
also to report from war zones. Many women actively participate in combat, in regular armed forces but
also as guerillas and, freedom fighters. They are also compelled to fight as girl child soldiers.
Sexual violence against women remains an alarming and disturbing feature of modern armed conflicts.
This is despite the fact that International Humanitarian Law (IHL) prohibits rape and other forms of
sexual violence in war and despite the major advances in International Criminal Law (ICL) in the
punishment of gender crimes. Over the past two years, some further steps and initiatives have been
taken at national and international level to address this problem. For instance, in June 2013 the United
Nations Security Council issued Resolution 2106 on sexual violence in conflict, calling (once again) for
the prevention of sexual violence during conflicts. In April 2012, the UK Foreign Secretary, William
Hague, launched the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative, which resulted in adopting a G8
Declaration on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict and endorsing the Declaration of Commitment to End
Sexual Violence in Conflict, which has been signed by 70% of UN Member States.
What impact have these measures had? Will they make a real difference? Have they had any impact on
the way that armed conflict is conducted? How much can the law actually achieve? What do recent
conflicts tell us about the contemporary representations of women in and at war?
This conference builds on the 2012 Women in War and at War conference held at Aberystwyth
University and is designed to focus in particular on recent developments in relation to women and war.
Keynote speaker: Prof. Christine Chinkin, London School of Economics
We invite proposals for papers in the following or related areas:
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Women and the conflict in Syria
Women, the Arab Spring and the aftermath
International Humanitarian Law: effectiveness and challenges
International Criminal Law and the prosecution of gender-related crimes
Representations of women in and at war
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Women, war and the media
Women in post-conflict settings
Gender and conflict.
Abstracts of max. 250 words should be submitted by 28 February 2014 to
womeninatwar@gmail.com. Authors of selected abstracts will be informed by mid-March 2014.
The conference is jointly organised by the University of Warwick, Aberystwyth
University and The Open University: