Protecting Women in the Midst of Conflict

• In Event: Intersecting Gender and Armed Conflict

Abstract

In conflict-afflicted zones, gender-based violence by non-state armed actors is often used as a strategic tool of violence. To understand the relationship between armed governance and how local politicians mitigate the incidence of gender-based violence, we investigate the effect of local female political leadership on the regulation against women and the incidence of sexual violence perpetrated by a variety of non-state armed actors. Using a regression discontinuity design that models the close electoral victory of female mayors in Colombia between 1998 and 2017, we find that the election of female mayors marginally decreases the regulation of women and the use of sexual violence by non-state armed actors. This effect is more pronounced for armed actors that engage more assiduously on these practices on both sides of the ideological spectrum.
We complement the statistical analysis with qualitative analyses of the policies and political decisions that female local mayors implemented to protect women from both left-wing insurgencies and right-wing paramilitary groups.

Authors

• Javier Osorio, University of Arizona

• Alianna Rose Casas, University of Arizona