The story of men’s roles in war and violence fills headlines and history books, but the women’s narrative too often goes unnoticed. This two-volume work brings women’s voices to the fore, highlighting new scholarship and journalism to offer a realistic understanding of this timely topic. Including both historical context and contemporary issues, the volumes explore types of violence affecting women and girls—as victims of war and as combatants in and perpetrators of war. Equally important, it provides an in-depth look at resistance movements and peacemaking efforts, examining how these issues can—and should—be addressed.

The two volumes bring together a wide range of articles by experts from various fields and backgrounds to provide the first all-inclusive overview of women, war, and violence. Other works on the subject tend to be focused on Western nations, offering a narrow view of a global issue. This compendium, in contrast, takes a truly international approach. It provides general readers, policymakers, students and scholars with a compelling collection of insights from around the world, exposing the varied experiences women have had—and continue to have—with violence and war.

Features

• Provides a comprehensive overview of issues related to women, war, civil unrest, sexual assault, and violence
• Tackles a wide range of topics using multiple perspectives from ethnography to scholarly analysis to on-the-ground journalism
• Examines the tragic contours of the problem but also depicts hope for the future via the creative solutions being forged, especially by women empowered to counter violence
• Explores best practices of violence prevention from United Nations and state-sponsored programs as well as from movements within civil society
• Includes case studies from key conflict zones to further the understanding of the issues discussed