Venus Envy
  Vol V : issue 1

  Cover page
  Kaushik Basu
  Radhika Coomaraswamy
  Taslima Nasreen
  N. S. Madhavan
  Zehra Nigah
  Only in Print

Radhika Coomaraswamy

Another way women are affected by war is through the presence of large armed camps. Wherever young men are stationed in camps, trafficking and prostitution also thrive. In most cases, these activities are organised by private individuals who run brothels and other enterprises near the camps but in some cases such as that of the Japanese 'comfort women' during World War II, armies have organised brothels within the camp and engaged in military sexual slavery. The trafficking of women for prostitution near armed camps is a serious problem even in Bosnia and Sierra Leone, where UN peacekeepers reside in large numbers. There is also the case of underage children, who are often preferred by the clients from the military as a precaution against Aids.

The situation becomes more complex because for many of these women, starvation is the other option to prostitution and being an escort for a foreign peacekeeper gives them a lifestyle that would have been unthinkable before the war. This opportunity for social mobility of a sort has made many women's groups focus only on the issue of forced prostitution, and not prostitution per se. They argue that women make the choice to engage in sexual activity as a means of survival because they have few other options. Therefore, such choices should be permitted so long as it is made with a woman's full consent and does not result in abuse. Non-governmental organisations and women's groups should provide support for these women so that they can protect themselves and understand the meaning of their choices.

Finally, women are affected by war since an increasing number are becoming armed combatants. There is an initial debate as to whether involvement in armed conflict is an aspect of women's empowerment. Some women argue that women in the military, for example the female Tigers of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), display a greater sense of agency than women in the civilian population. Since they are in charge of camps and operations they are often strong and articulate, capable of taking decisions and carrying out what were once masculine activities. This has impressed individuals from around the world, leading one scholar, Neloufer de Mel, to ask the question: are women combatants agents or victims? Others have argued that since most women in the military operate only at the lower levels and not in supreme decision-making positions, these combatants cannot always be seen as empowered. Women become cannon-fodder, part of the most dispensable groups within the fighting force. With the lowest status, they are cogs in the wheel of the war machine. The question remains: agent or victim?

Regardless of how one understands the phenomenon of women combatants within the perspective of women's rights, the issue of reintegrating women combatants after a war becomes a serious issue for reconstruction and reconciliation. The Colombian experience has pointed to the fact that women have a major problem reintegrating into society. Men do not like to have women combatants as wives in peacetime, though they may have been comrades in arms. In addition, the experience women go through as combatants does not equip them for the problems they face when peace finally comes. Women combatants from Colombia have written several treatises on the enormous social and psychological challenges they have had to face and the insensitivity of the State and society in helping them to work out their problems. Most reconstruction programmes do not provide for women combatants and as the experience from around the world shows, this is a serious problem. Women combatants have special needs and concerns which have to be addressed if they are to be absorbed into the mainstream life of a peaceful society.

The issue of women and war, agent or victim, is a central question of our times. Too often, the international media posits third world women - especially South Asian women - as eternal victims. They are seen weeping, begging or pleading with a child near at hand. This notion of the perennial victim is imprinted on our minds. However, researchers studying these women point to the fact that they are strong and resourceful, surviving in difficult circumstances. Nevertheless, no matter how empowered they become, the structures created by war are against them, creating many obstacles and impenetrable systems of abuse. For this reason, a recent UN Security Council resolution that insists that women should be involved in every aspect of the peace process is a welcome development. The resolution states that women should be present at the negotiating table, assisting in formulating final political solutions and reconstruction and reconciliation plans. This recognition that women's agency is not only about how to make ends meet at a refugee camp or as a war widow but also about articulating visions for the future, is central to our understanding of women, violence and war.

In Sri Lanka, due to enormous pressure from women's groups, the government and the LTTE set up a Gender Committee consisting of leading feminists to advise on the peace process. This was a major step forward. Unless we recognise that women's involvement is not only about increasing women's agency at the periphery but also about changing structures so that women's concerns are a central part of the decision-making process, very little will change with regard to ensuring that women, who were once survivors of war, now reap the benefits of peace.

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