Dyan Mazurana published a review of Female Combatants in Conflict and Peace: Challenging Gender in Violence and Post-Conflict Reintegration, edited by Seema Shekhawat in the Journal of Women, Policy & Politics.

Dyan’s review notes three important messages that come out in the book:

1. While ex-combatant women may have something important to offer, there is little evidence they are in any position to meaningfully contribute to larger processes of conflict resolution, peace processes, and peacemaking because they are almost always actively excluded from processes.
2. Women and girls who join armed opposition groups don’t achieve the emancipation or freedom from violence and discrimination that often propelled them to join in the first place.
3. In the post-conflict, women ex-combatants face substantial discrimination and marginalization. This is in large part due to the breaking of gendered taboos as a result of their participation in armed violence and the supposed sexual deviance that comes with it.

The full review is available here.