Women's participation in military conflicts

 (Peruvian) women in military conflicts 


Although women have been part of military conflicts, their historical role in this has always been minimized or ignored, compared to men role. During conflicts, women are treated as if they were a prize, raped to satisfy their "needs" and then left half-dead, using them as a way to terrorize civilians. Fortunately, as time has passed, the role of women has become more visible.Accordign to Huffman (2023), during the 20th century, women were the ones who mobilized resources in the world wars or who did nursing work, delivered letters, even participated as spies or as combatants. 

Regarding Peruvian women, they have also suffered abuse and violence during these conflicts. According to Rosas (2021) the majority of women were indigenous, although there were also slaves and women from the popular sectors mainly, since their locality were conflict zones. There they suffered discrimination, torture, rape and executions. This not only on the part of the military but also on the part of civilians who took advantage of the chaos and terror to make their own. Women fleeing this chaos still faced too many difficulties, such as lack of access to basic services because they lost their homes and resources.
In spite of all this, they still helped the community by providing humanitarian aid to war orphans, girls who suffered rape, military and civilian wounds. They helped with psychological support, food supplies and even a weapons supply centre. They protected children or denounced violations of their rights, promoted peace and promoted their culture.


There are many famous women, who have played an extremely important role, in Peru. We have Micaela Batidas, who led a rebellion against the rule of the Spanish, then we have Maria Para de Bellido who fought for the independence of the country, or Zoila Auora Caceres who was a doctor and provided care to wounded soldiers.


References:

- Huffman, A. (2023, march 6). Evolution of women’s roles in the military. Military Families. https://militaryfamilies.com/history/evolution-of-womens-roles-in-the-military/

- Rosas, C. (2021, december 15). Desafiando el peso de la historia. El papel de las mujeres en la construcción de la República peruana. Revista Memoria PUCP. https://idehpucp.pucp.edu.pe/revista-memoria/articulo/desafiando-el-peso-de-la-historia-el-papel-de-las-mujeres-en-la-construccion-de-la-republica-peruana/ 


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