An Analysis Of Female Combatants And The Perpetration Of Violence By Dara Kay Cohen

Ella Dotzler

GOV 40

Going Further Assignment

Identifying Parts of The Process:

While reading Dara Kay Cohen’s article, “Female Combatants and the Perpetration of Violence: Wartime Rape in the Sierra Leone Civil War,” there are multiple elements of variation that contribute to the argument. First, there is variation in determining which armed groups in the Sierra Leone conflict rape and which do not, there is variation in the groups in which men and women took part and the distribution of men and women in each armed group, there is variation in the abduction of fighters and the correlation with wartime rape, and there is significant variation in drug use among groups, all of which served as potential counters to Cohen’s argument. These elements

The independent variable (participation of women in armed groups) and the dependent variable (incidents of sexual violence) are measured through quantitative and qualitative analysis, respectively, by using data on the gender composition of armed groups and reported cases of sexual violence. After reading, it is clear that patterns are not completely consistent with Cohen’s prediction, though both male and female entities participated in sexual violence, because of a large variation in the female involvement and nature of the harm. Additionally, Cohen found that female combatants were more likely to sexually harm female victims and that male combatants were more likely to sexually harm men. So, while it is true that females did participate in sexual violence, the analysis led to a conclusion that gendered power dynamics contribute to sexual violence more so than gender membership in armed groups. Finally, in terms of addressing threats to inference, it should be noted that survivors’ accounts of sexual violence could be heavily influenced by trauma and an overall inaccurate recollection of the events, which should be noted in the

The primary independent variable of the participation of women in armed groups is something that should not necessarily be the focus of the article. A genuine flaw of this study is the assumption and emphasis on the mere participation in each of these armed groups as being the primary factor that contributes to the rate of sexual violence. While it is true that Cohen does acknowledge that power dynamics and gender dynamics contribute to the perpetration of sexual violence, this is not a primary focus of the study—but maybe it should be. It would be more impactful to view the issue from the lens of a broader range of factors that could contribute to sexual violence in the Sierra Leone conflict. These factors could include, but are not limited to, masculinity and femininity, power dynamics, and other socio-political contexts. By including more factors than just membership within the armed group, this could result in a more nuanced and comprehensive understanding of the complexities that contribute to sexual violence. Furthermore, by analyzing the issue through multiple lenses, the findings could be far more useful than if the only factor considered were membership in the group. Additionally, this