Jessica Trisko Darden

Izabela Steflja

"Women war criminals are far more common than we think. From the Holocaust to ethnic cleansing in the Balkans to the Rwandan genocide, women have perpetrated heinous crimes. Few have been punished. Women who have committed war crimes go unnoticed because their very existence goes against our assumptions about war and about women. Biases that contend that women are peaceful and innocent prevent us from "seeing" women as war criminals. They also work to prevent post-conflict justice systems from assigning women blame. We argue that women are just as capable as men in committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. They are also uniquely adept at using gender instrumentally to fight for better conditions and reduced sentences when war ends. We examine four legal cases to demonstrate this: the President (Biljana Plavšić), the Minister (Pauline Nyiramasuhuko), the Soldier (Lynndie England), and the Student (Hoda Muthana). The intersection of gender, the ideological commitment, age, race, nationality, religion, rank, and institutional membership of these women influenced their treatment by legal systems and their ability to mount a gendered defense of their actions. The political context and motivations of the courts that handled their cases also shaped the legal outcomes. Justice, ultimately, is not blind to gender"--

Gender, Agency, and Justice

Women As War Criminals

Women war criminals are far more common than we think. From the Holocaust to ethnic cleansing in the Balkans to the Rwandan genocide, women have perpetrated heinous crimes. Few have been punished. These women go unnoticed because their very existence challenges our assumptions about war and about women. Biases about women as peaceful and innocent prevent us from "seeing" women as war criminals—and prevent postconflict justice systems from assigning women blame. Women as War Criminals argues that women are just as capable as men of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. In addition to unsettling assumptions about women as agents of peace and reconciliation, the book highlights the gendered dynamics of law, and demonstrates that women are adept at using gender instrumentally to fight for better conditions and reduced sentences when war ends. The book presents the legal cases of four women: the President (Biljana Plavšic), the Minister (Pauline Nyiramasuhuko), the Soldier (Lynndie England), and the Student (Hoda Muthana). Each woman's complex identity influenced her treatment by legal systems and her ability to mount a gendered defense before the court. Justice, as Steflja and Trisko Darden show, is not blind to gender.

Izabela Steflja

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