I have always had a general interest in both Gender and Conflict Studies. When I got the opportunity to combine both interests through the course Gender, Human Security and Violent Conflict, I instantly enrolled. This class has been one of the most interesting courses I have taken during my Bachelor. The course made it clear to me that this is the field I want to work in in the future. Furthermore, it made me decide to continue my studies within this field by enrolling in the related master’s programme.

I found it very interesting to learn more about how gender is constructed during conflict, creating expectations of both men and women and how they should behave. For women in particular, these expectations create many challenges when it comes to equal participation in, for example, peace negotiations. During wars women are often still perceived as mere victims in need of protection instead of independent agents. Peacebuilding and peacekeeping efforts provide a society with the opportunity to change and redefine prevailing norms and values regarding gender in both formal and informal ways, more so than peacetime does. This makes the role of conflict during war even more interesting to study. However, since men still prevail in every aspect of conflict, change in the participation of women in post-war societies is minimal.

As a student of conflict studies, you often read about atrocities committed against people. However, in this course we looked deeper into the prevalence of sexual violence during conflict. Some studies of sexual violence challenge long-held beliefs by policy makers that sexual violence is mainly perpetrated by men against women, which even translates into UN Resolutions such as UNSCR 1325.

It is fascinating to look into the role women play within armed groups and at the challenges they face as a part of a masculine environment. I also enjoyed learning about how armed groups that actively try to recruit women usually draw on very gendered notions of ‘motherhood’. When we think of armed groups we usually just think of men in a very masculine environment.

The course also challenged students to be critical towards gendered ideas they personally hold. This even changed my experience of the everyday world. I am confronted with such gendered ideas when, for example, reading a newspaper article about women and children being the main victims of a conflict. This makes me instantly think: but what about the men?