Gender and Armed Conflict

This paper synthesizes the quantitative literature on the relationship between gender and armed conflict, focusing on two key perspectives: women as victims and women as agents. It first reviews research on the consequences of conflict for women and girls, highlighting both direct effects — such as gender-based violence and forced displacement — and indirect effects in post-conflict settings, including declines in personal security, education, economic outcomes, and health. The paper then shifts to examine women’s political roles in conflict, whether as participants in resistance movements or as peace-builders and agents of post-conflict reconstruction. While there is a growing body of innovative research on these critical issues, significant opportunities remain for further empirical and experimental work, particularly studies that seek to establish causal mechanisms and expand our understanding of gendered dynamics in settings damaged by conflict.