Women Insurgents, Rebel Organization Structure and Sustaining the Rebellion: The Case of Kurdistan Workers’ Party

How do women insurgents affect rebel organizations’ structure and survivability? Scholars acknowledge the importance of organization-level dynamics and unit composition for conflict outcomes. However, our understanding of how gender-diverse cadres impact rebel survivability remains limited. I examine the mechanisms through which women sustain the armed conflict. I analyze micro-organizational dynamics of rebellion through a qualitative case study of the Kurdish armed movement in Turkey between 1982-2015, based on the official archives of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party. I show that women insurgents enable tactical diversity, aid the organization’s coup-proofing strategy against factions, and mobilize domestic and international audiences. Women contribute most to their organization during crises and due to exploitation of gender inequalities. Analyzing the relationship between gender dynamics, group structure, and evolving rebel strategies, this study shows that the gender of the membership is an important factor influencing rebel survivability.

Public Preferences, Gender, and Foreign Support for Armed Movements:

This study argues gender composition of the rebel groups serves as a cognitive shortcut to inform about the rebel behaviors regarding humane treatment, which facilitates attracting international support for groups with women insurgents. Through survey experiments conducted in Tunisia and the US, I show that foreign audiences are more likely to support giving aid to rebel groups when they include women insurgents. I further analyze the mechanisms linking women insurgents to higher levels of support. This support is driven mainly by the perception that the group is less likely to use violence against civilians and that supporting a gender-diverse organization would improve the sponsoring state’s reputation in the eyes of the international community. I further test whether this favorable opinion toward women insurgents can shape foreign policy decisions in favor of supporting gender-diverse insurgent groups. Using macro-level evidence concerning the supporter states and the prevalence of female combatants in a global sample of rebel organizations between 1989 and 2009, I provide evidence that democratic states are more likely to support groups with women insurgents.

Gender Norms and Rebel Group Survivability

Existing research argues that rebel organizations that recruit women have higher prospects for survival and victory. However, we have limited understanding about the conditions under which female recruitment can be advantageous for rebel groups. I argue that female combatants’ impact on conflict duration is conditional on the prevalence of traditional gender norms. Results from survival analysis using a global sample of rebel groups from 1979 to 2009 suggest that female members’ advantage in sustaining the rebellion is only salient in societies with restrictive gender norms regarding women’s participation in public life. In contrast, female members do not appear to contribute to rebel group survivability through unique gendered ways in societies embracing more gender-egalitarian norms. The results have important research and policy implications which highlight the need to understand contextual gender dynamics for peace and security.