Skip to main content

Gender, Humanitarianism and the Military

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
The Palgrave International Handbook of Gender and the Military

Abstract

In contrast to many other areas of military endeavour, the roles of soldiers and their broader institutions in humanitarian action have received relatively little attention within critical scholarship broadly and gender research specifically. Christie explores how the intersection of gender, humanitarianism and militaries has been studied, mapping out the important trends of gender analysis. The relative lack of critical engagement can be explained by a broad acceptance of the aims of humanitarianism by many scholars, and by a tendency to focus a critical gaze on the roles of militaries in other arenas. The chapter argues that some gender analyses of the roles of militaries in humanitarianism, which focus on the plight of women and children in crises, can reproduce and validate the place of militaries.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 349.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 449.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Allen, T. and Styan, D. (2000) ‘A Right to Interfere? Bernard Kouchner and the New Humanitarianism’. Journal of International Development 12 (6): 825–842.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Armenian, H., Melkonian, A., Noji, E. and Hovanesian, A. (1997) ‘Deaths and Injuries Due to the Earthquake in Armenia: A Cohort Approach’. International Journal of Epidemiology 26 (4): 806–813.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barnett, M. (2005) ‘Humanitarianism Transformed’. Perspectives on Politics 3 (4): 723–740.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barnett, M. (2009) ‘Evolution Without Progress? Humanitarianism in a World of Hurt’. International Organization 63 (4): 621–663.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barry and Jefferys (2002) ‘A Bridge Too Far: Aid Agencies and the Military in Humanitarian Response’. Humanitarian Practice Network Papers 37: 1–36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bedont, B. and Hall-Martinez, K. (1999) ‘Ending Impunity for Gender Crimes Under the International Criminal Court’. Brown Journal of World Affairs 6 (1): 65–85.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bellamy, A.J. (2003) ‘Humanitarian Responsibilities and Interventionist Claims in International Society’. Review of International Studies 29 (3): 321–340.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bern, C., Sniezek, J., Mathbor, G.M., Siddiqi,M.S., Ronsmans, C., Chowdhury, A.M. Choudhury, A.E., Islam, K., Bennish, M. and Noji, E. (1993) ‘Risk Factors for Mortality in the Bangladesh Cyclone 1991’. The World Health Organization Bulletin 71 (1): 73–78.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bradbury, M. and Kleinman, M. (2010) Winning Hearts and Minds? Examining the Relationship Between Aid and Security in Kenya. Medford, MA: Feinstein International Center, Tufts University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, Laurence (2007) ‘“Pour Aider Nos Frères D’Espagne”: Humanitarian Aid, French Women, and Popular Mobilization during the Front Populaire’. French Politics, Culture & Society 25 (1): 30–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burman, E. (1994) ‘Innocents Abroad: Western Fantasies of Childhood and the Iconography of Emergencies’. Disasters 18 (3): 238–253.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buscher, D. and Makinson, C. (2006) Protection of IDP Women, Children and Youth. Forced Migration Review, 24: 15–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Butler, J. (2004) Violence, Mourning, Politics, Precarious Life: The Powers of Mourning and Violence. New York: Verso.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carpenter, R.C. (2003) ‘“Women and Children First”: Gender, Norms, and Humanitarian Evacuation in the Balkans 1991–95’. International Organization 57 (4): 661–694.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chimni, B.S. (2000) ‘First Harrell-Bond Lecture: ‘Globalization, Humanitarianism and the Erosion of Refugee Protection’. Journal of Refugee Studies 13 (3): 243–264.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chou, Y.-J., Huang, N., Lee, C-H., Tsai, S-L., Chen, L-S. and Chang, H-J. (2004) ‘Who is at Risk of Death in an Earthquake?’ American Journal of Epidemiology 160 (7): 688–695.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Christie, R. (2012) ‘The Pacification of Soldiering, and the Militarization of Development: Contradictions Inherent in Provincial Reconstruction in Afghanistan’. Globalizations 9 (1): 53–71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ciampi, M.C., Gell, F., Lasap, L. and Turvill, E. (2011) Gender and Disaster Risk Reduction: A Training Pack. Oxford: Oxfam GB.

    Google Scholar 

  • Commission on Human Rights (1998) Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, UN document E/CN.4/1998/53/Add.2.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cornish, S. (2007) ‘No Room for Humanitarianism in 3D Policies: Have Forcible Humanitarian Interventions and Integrated Approaches Lost Their Way?’ Journal of Military and Strategic Studies 10 (1). http://jmss.org/jmss/index.php/jmss/article/view/37/35

  • CRED. (2006) Risk Factors for Mortality and Injury: Post-Tsunami Epidemiological Findings from Tamil Nadu. Brussels: CRED.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davoren, S.J. (2012) ‘Helping International Non-Government Organisations (INGOs) to Include a Focus on Gender-Based Violence During the Emergency Phase: Lessons Learned from Haiti 2010–2011’. Gender and Development 20 (2): 281–294.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dijkhorst, H. van and Vonhof, S. (2005) Gender and Humanitarian Aid: A Literature Review of Policy and Practice. Disaster Studies, Wageningen: Wageningen University/COR- DAID.

    Google Scholar 

  • Donini, A. (2010) ‘The Far Side: The Meta Functions of Humanitarianism in a Globalized World’. Disasters 34 (S2): 220–237.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Donini, A., Minear, L. and Walker, P. (2004) ‘The Future of Humanitarian Action: Mapping the Implications of Iraq and Other Recent Crises’. Disasters 28 (2): 190–204.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duffield, M. (1994) The Political Economy of Internal War: Asset Transfer, Complex Emergencies and International Aid. In J. Macrae & A. Zwi (Eds.) War & Hunger: Rethinking International Responses to Complex Emergencies. London: Zed Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duffield, M. (2001) Global Governance and the New Wars – The Merging of Development and Security. London: Zed Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duffield, M. (2010) ‘The Liberal Way of Development and the Development–Security Impasse: Exploring the Global Life-Chance Divide’. Security Dialogue 41 (1): 53–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duncanson, C. (2009) ‘Forces for Good? Narratives of Military Masculinity in Peacekeeping Operations’. International Feminist Journal of Politics 11 (1): 63–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duncanson, C. (2013) Forces for Good? Military Masculinities and Peacebuilding in Afghanistan and Iraq. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Edkins, J. (2000) Whose Hunger? Concepts of Famine, Practices of Aid. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Edkins, J. (2003) ‘Humanitarianism, Humanity, Human’. Journal of Human Rights 2 (2): 253–258.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eklund, L. and Tellier, S. (2012) ‘Gender and International Crisis Response: Do we have the Data, and Does it Matter?’ Disasters 36 (4): 589–608.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Engle, K. (2007) ‘“Calling in the Troops”: The Uneasy Relationship Among Women’s Rights, Human Rights, and Humanitarian Intervention’. Harvard Human Rights Journal 20: 189.

    Google Scholar 

  • Enloe, C. (2000) Maneuvers: The International Politics of Militarizing Women’s Lives. Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fan, L. (2012) ‘Shelter Strategies, Humanitarian Praxis and Critical Urban Theory in Post-Crisis Reconstruction’. Disasters 36 (S1): 64–86.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foran, S., Swaine, A. and Burns, K. (2012) ‘Improving the effectiveness of humanitarian action: Progress in implementing the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Gender Marker’. Gender and Development 20 (2): 233–247.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gardam, D. (1990) ‘A Feminist Analysis of International Humanitarian Law’. Australian Yearbook of International Law 12: 265–278.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goodhand, J. (2002) ‘Aiding Violence or Building Peace? The Role of International Aid in Afghanistan’, Third World Quarterly 23 (5): 837–859.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • GoSL (Government of Sri Lanka). (2005) Sri Lanka: Post-Tsunami Recovery and Reconstruction. Colombo: GoSL.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grabska, K. (2011) ‘Constructing “Modern Gendered Civilised” Women and Men: Gender-Mainstreaming in Refugee Camps’. Gender & Development 19 (1): 81–93.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Graham, A. (2001) Gender Mainstreaming Guidelines for Disaster: A Principled Socio- Economic and Gender Analysis (SEAGA) Approach. Ankara: United Nations, Food and Agriculture Organization, International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR), Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW).

    Google Scholar 

  • Gurd, K. (2006) ‘Connections and complicities: Reflections on Epistemology, Violence, and Humanitarian Aid’. Journal of International Women’s Studies 7 (3): 24–42.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hewitt, K. (1995) ‘Excluded Perspectives in the Social Construction of Disaster’. International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters 13 (2): 317–339.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hillier, Rick. (2005) ‘NATO Transformation: Canada’s Contribution’. On Track 10 (4): 8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoare, J., Smyth, I. and Sweetman, C. (2012) ‘Introduction: Post-Disaster Humanitarian Work’. Gender and Development 20 (2): 205–217.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hopgood, S. (2006) Keepers of the Flame: Understanding Amnesty International. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hyndman, J. (1998) ‘Managing Difference: Gender and Culture in Humanitarian Emergencies’. Gender, Place and Culture 5: 241–260.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hyndman, J. and De Alwis, M. (2003) ‘Beyond Gender: Towards a Feminist Analysis of Humanitarianism and Development in Sri Lanka’. Women’s Studies Quarterly 31 (3/4): 212–226.

    Google Scholar 

  • IRC (International Rescue Committee). (2006) Increased Sexual Assaults Signal Darfur’s Downward Slide. Media Alert. http://www.rescue.org/news/increased-sexual-assaults-signal-darfur-4112. Accessed 14 March 2016.

  • Jones, H. (2009) ‘International or Transnational? Humanitarian Action During the First World War’. European Review of History: Revue Européenne D’histoire 16 (5): 697–713.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy, D. (2005) The Dark Sides of Virtue: Reassessing International Humanitarianism. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kilcullen, D. (2006) ‘Counterinsurgency Redux’. Survival 48: 4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khalili, L. (2010) ‘Gendered Practices of Counterinsurgency’. Review of International Studies. 1–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krahenbuhl, P. (2011) The Militarization of Aid and its Perils. ICRC Resource Centre. https://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/article/editorial/humanitarians-danger-article-2011-02-01.htm

  • Laurie, M. and Petchesky, R.P. (2008) ‘Gender, health, and human rights in sites of political exclusion’. Global Public Health: an International Journal for Research, Policy and Practice 3 (S1): 25–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Laville, S. (29 April 2015) ‘UN aid worker suspended for leaking report on child abuse by French Troops’. Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/29/un-aid-worker-suspended-leaking-report-child-abuse-french-troops-car. Accessed 10 June 2016.

  • Lester, A. (2002) ‘Obtaining the “Due Observance of Justice”: The Geographies of Colonial Humanitarianism’. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 20: 277–293.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li, Xingli Li, Tan, Hongzhuan, Li, Shuoqi, Zhou, Jia, Liu, Aizhong, Yang, Tubao, Wen, Shi Wu, and Sun, Zhenqiu. (2007) ‘Years of Potential Life Lost in Residents Affected by Floods in Hunan, China’. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 101 (3): 299–304.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Macklin, A. (2004) Like Oil and Water, with a Match: Militarized Commerce, Armed Conflict, and Human Security in Sudan. In W. Gyles and J. Hyndman (Eds.) Sites of Violence: Gender and Conflict Zones. Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • MacKinnon, C.A. (2006) ‘Women’s September 11th: Rethinking the International Law of Conflict’. Harvard International Law Journal 47 (1): 1–31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin, S. (2005) Must Boys be Boys? Ending Sexual Exploitation & Abuse in UN Peacekeeping Missions. Washington: Refugees International.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marsh, M., Purdin, S. and Navani, S. (2006) ‘Addressing Sexual Violence in Humanitarian Emergencies’. Global Public Health 1: 133–146.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mazurana, D., Benelli, P., Walker, P. (2013) ‘How sex- and age-disaggregated data and gender and generational analyses can improve humanitarian response’, Disasters S1: S68–S82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mazurana, D., Benelli, P., Gupta, H. and Walker, P. (2011) ‘Sex and Age Matter: Improving Humanitarian Response in Emergencies’. Medford, MA: Feinstein International Center, Tufts University. http://oneresponse.info/crosscutting/gender/publicdocuments/SADD.pdf (last checked by the authors March 2012).

    Google Scholar 

  • Mégret, F. (2009) From ‘Savages’ to ‘Unlawful Combatants’: A Postcolonial Look at International Law’s ‘Other’. In A. Orford (Ed.) International Law and Its Others. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, A. (2004) ‘Sexuality, Violence Against Women, and Human Rights: Women Make Demands and Ladies Get Protection’. Health and Human Rights 7 (2): 17–47.

    Google Scholar 

  • Minear, L. (2002) The Humanitarian Enterprise. Bloomfield, CT: Kumarian.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morrow, B.H. and Phillips, B. (1999) ‘What’s Gender “Got to Do with It”?’ International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters 17 (1): 5–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mostafanezhad, M. (2013) ‘Getting in Touch with your Inner Angelina: Celebrity Humanitarianism and the Cultural Politics of Gendered Generosity in Volunteer Tourism’. Third World Quarterly 34 (3): 485–499.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ndulo, M. (2009) ‘The United Nations Responses to the Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of Women and Girls by Peacekeepers During Peacekeeping Missions’. Berkeley Journal of International Law 27 (1): 127–161.

    Google Scholar 

  • Neumayer, E. and Plümper, T. (2007) ‘The Gendered Nature of Natural Disasters: The Impact of Catastrophic Events on the Gender Gap in Life Expectancy, 1981–2002’. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 97 (3): 551–566.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Newman, M. (2009) Humanitarian Intervention: Confronting the Contradictions. London: Hurst & Co.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nguyen, Mimi Thi. (2011) ‘The Biopower of Beauty: Humanitarian Imperialisms and Global Feminisms in an Age of Terror’. Signs 36 (2): 359–383.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nishikiori, N., Abe, T., Costa, D., Dharmaratne, S., Kunii, O. and Moji, K. (2006) ‘Who Died as a Result of the Tsunami? Risk Factors of Mortality Among Internally Displaced Persons in Sri Lanka: A Retrospective Cohort Analysis’. BMC Public Health 6 (1): 73–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oldfield, Sybil (2001) ‘Compiling the First Dictionary of British Women Humanitarians – Why? What? Who? How?’. Women’s Studies International Forum 24 (6): 737–743.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Orford, A. (1999) ‘Muscular Humanitarianism: Reading the Narratives of the New Interventionism’. European Journal of International Law 10 (4): 679–711.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oxfam. (2005) The Tsunami’s Impact on Women. Oxfam Briefing Note. http://www.oxfam.org/en/policy/bn050326-tsunami-women. Accessed 8 April 2013.

  • Patrick, E. (2007) ‘Sexual Violence and Firewood Collection in Darfur’. Forced Migration Review 27: 40–41.

    Google Scholar 

  • Razack, S. (2004) Dark Threats and White Knights: The Somalia Affair, Peacekeeping and the New Imperialism. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Repo, J. and Yrjölä, R. (2011) ‘The Gender Politics of Celebrity Humanitarianism in Africa’. International Feminist Journal of Politics 13 (1): 44–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rieff, D. (2002) A Bed for the Night: Humanitarianism in Crisis. London: Vintage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roberts, N.C. (2010) ‘Spanning “Bleeding” Boundaries: Humanitarianism, NGOs, and the Civilian-Military Nexus in the Post-Cold War Era’. Public Administration Review 70 (2): 212–222.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shepherd, L. (2010) ‘Women, Armed Conflict and Language/Gender, Violence and Discourse’. International Review of the Red Cross 92 (877): 143–159.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spiegel, P.B., Sheik, M., Woodruff, B and Burnham, G. (2001) ‘The Accuracy of Mortality Reporting in Displaced Persons Camps During the Post-emergency Phase’. Disasters 25 (2): 172–180.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stoddard, A. Harmer, A. and Ryou, K. (2014) Unsafe Passage: Road Attacks and their impact on humanitarian operations. Aid Worker Security Report.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tester, K. (2010) ‘Humanitarianism: The Group Charisma of Postcolonial Britain’. International Journal of Cultural Studies 13 (4): 375–389.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • The Parade Square forum (21 April 2008). ‘Re: Rex Murphy on General Hillier’. http://army.ca/forums/index.php?topic=2738.880;wap2. Accessed 25 July 2015.

  • The Star. (16 April 2008) Hillier Brought Candor to the Role. http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2008/04/16/hillier_brought_candour_to_role.html. Accessed 20 March 2016.

  • Tickner, J.A. (1992) Gender in International Relations: Feminist Perspectives on Achieving Global Security. New York: Columbia University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner, S. (1999) How Life in a Refugee Camp Affects Gender, Age and Class Relations. Geneva: UNHCR.

    Google Scholar 

  • UNGA. (11 October 2002) ‘Investigation into Sexual Exploitation of Refugees by Aid Workers in West Africa’. Report of the Secretary-General on the activities of the Office of Internal Oversight Services, A/57/465.

    Google Scholar 

  • UNSC. (19 August 2014) ‘Increased Attacks on Aid Workers Due to Lack of Respect for International Humanitarian Law, Deputy Secretary-General Tells Security Council’. UNSC Meetings Coverage, SC/1154.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Schaak, B. (2011) ‘The Crime of Aggression and Humanitarian Intervention on Behalf of Women’. International Criminal Law Review 11: 477–493.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weiss, T.G. (2007) Humanitarian Intervention: Ideas in Action. Cambridge: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wheeler, N. (2000) Saving Strangers: Humanitarian Intervention in International Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wheeler, N. and Harmer, V. (2006) Resetting the Rules of Engagement: Trends and Issues in Military-Humanitarian Relations. London: HPG – ODI.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitworth, S. (2004) Men, Militarism and UN Peacekeeping. Boulder: Lynne Rienner.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yuval-Davis, N. (2006) ‘Intersectionality and Feminist Politics’. European Journal of Women’s Studies 13 (3): 193–209.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ryerson Christie .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Copyright information

© 2017 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Christie, R. (2017). Gender, Humanitarianism and the Military. In: Woodward, R., Duncanson, C. (eds) The Palgrave International Handbook of Gender and the Military. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-51677-0_21

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics