Draft:Women in the Sri Lankan Civil War
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Background
[edit]The Sri Lankan civil war was a civil war fought in Sri Lanka between 1983 and 2009. The war principally opposed the Sinhalese-dominated Government of Sri Lanka against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), an internationally designated terrorist group that aimed to create an indepedent Tamil state called Tamil Eelam in northern Sri Lanka. Sparked by the Black July anti-Tamil pogrom in 1983, the war would end with the Sri Lankan government victorious after a 2009 offensive that militarily defeated the LTTE. Between 1987 and 1990, the Indian government was also involved in the conflict, through the Indian Peace Keeping Force.
In the LTTE
[edit]Adele Balasingham Captain Angayarkanni Brigadier Vithusha
A significant number of women fought with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) during the Sri Lankan Civil War, constituting 20-to-30% of LTTE combattants over the course of the war.[8] According to journalists Kim Wall and Mansi Choksi, the LTTE "boasted the world’s fiercest army of women, even as Tamil society imposed a culture of subservience. In the early years of the war, women were assigned roles in recruitment, propaganda, medical care, and fundraising. But slowly, women made up a large contingent of commandants, especially in suicide squads."[9]
According to Reed Wood of the University of Essex and Lindsey Allemang of the University of Iowa, the "combination of a permissive gender ideology and acute resource pressures contributed to the large-scale recruitment of female combatants" by the LTTE.[10]
Malathi was the first female LTTE fighter to die during the war, being killed in action in 1987 in a battle with the Indian Peace Keeping Force. A brigade of the LTTE was later named after her, the Malathi Brigade.[11] Maria Vasanthi Michael, known under the nom de guerre Major Sothiya, commanded the first women-only unit of the LTTE, the Sothiya Brigade, formed in 1989.[12]
Women also participated in the LTTE Black Tigers suicide attacks, including the Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, carried out by Kalaivani Rajaratnam.[13] According to Josh Roose of the Australian Catholic University, the LTTE "are widely credited with mainstreaming the use of the suicide vest as a force multiplier," instilling "an increased sense of horror and terror among the wider population that anyone—man or woman—might be the next bomber."[14]
As well, a number of women participated in the LTTE in non-combat roles. Isaipriya
War crimes and human rights abuses
[edit]Civilians
[edit]Aftermath
[edit]Post-war, many women who fought with the LTTE faced difficulties in transitioning to civilian life, particularly as they were often expected to occupy less equal roles than they had as combatants.[18]
Around half of the HALO Trust staff working on demining operations in Sri Lanka are women.[19]
In popular culture
[edit]Journalist Rohini Mohan 2014 non-fiction book The Seasons of Trouble includes the story of a female combattant in the LTTE.[21]
V. V. Ganeshananthan's 2023 novel Brotherless Night follows the coming-of-age story of a teenage girl who wishes to become a doctor but gets swept up in the civil war.[22]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Sri Lanka's Conflict-Affected Women: Dealing with the Legacy of War". International Crisis Group. 28 July 2017. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
- ^ Stack-O'Connor, Alisa (6 February 2007). "Lions, Tigers, and Freedom Birds: How and Why the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam Employs Women". Terrorism and Political Violence. 19: 43–63. doi:10.1080/09546550601054642. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
- ^ Chamberlain, Gethin (12 April 2009). "Sri Lanka conflict: 'Two of us fled. 75 other women killed themselves with grenades,' says Tamil Tiger". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
- ^ Gowrinathan, Nimmi (25 April 2017). "The committed female fighter: the political identities of Tamil women in the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam". International Feminist Journal of Politics. 19 (3): 327–341. doi:10.1080/14616742.2017.1299369. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
- ^ Dissanayake, Sara (1 August 2017). "Women in the Tamil Tigers: Path to Liberation or Pawn in a Game?". Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses. 9 (8): 1–6. JSTOR 26351541. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
- ^ Buthpitiya, Vindhya (1 May 2023). "How to Capture Birds of Freedom: Picturing Tamil Women at War". Trans Asia Photography. 13. doi:10.1215/21582025-10365016. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
- ^ Joyce, Kara (1 August 2023). "Gender Roles and Military Necessity: Women's Inclusion in the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam" (PDF). Retrieved 21 November 2024.
- ^ "Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam". Mapping Militants Project. 1 July 2015. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
- ^ Wall, Kim (22 May 2018). "A Chance to Rewrite History: The Women Fighters of the Tamil Tigers". International Women's Media Foundation. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
- ^ Wood, Reed M. (9 August 2021). "Female fighters and the fates of rebellions: How mobilizing women influences conflict duration". Conflict Management and Peace Science. 39 (5): 565–586. doi:10.1177/07388942211034746.
- ^ "Remembering 2nd Lt. Maalathy". Tamil Guardian. 10 October 2024. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
- ^ "Remembering Major Sothiya". Tamil Guardian. 11 January 2021. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
- ^ Khan, Stephen (11 June 2009). "Female suicide bombers: Tamil Tiger teenage girl led the way". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
- ^ Gunia, Amy (25 April 2019). "'The Birthplace of the Suicide Belt.' Sri Lanka's Deadly History of Suicide Bombings". Time Magazine. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
- ^ "Sri Lanka accused of ill-treating women it suspects of Tamil Tiger links". The Guardian. 9 April 2014. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
- ^ Brounéus, Karen (9 September 2023). "The burden of war widows: gendered consequences of war and peace-building in Sri Lanka". Third World Quarterly. 45 (3): 458–474. doi:10.1080/01436597.2023.2250727. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
- ^ "Sri Lankan Tamil women fighting for land 10 years after war ended". Al Jazeera. 11 March 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
- ^ Robertson, Holly (7 July 2018). "From soldiers to housewives: Women who fought as Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka are forced into traditional roles". The Washington Post. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
- ^ Joyce, Allison (8 March 2019). "The women clearing Sri Lanka's minefields - in pictures". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
- ^ Saxena, Akanksha (9 December 2024). "Female deminers drive Sri Lanka's postwar recovery". DW. Retrieved 9 December 2024.
- ^ "The Seasons of Trouble: Life amid the Ruins of Sri Lanka's Civil War". Publisher's Weekly. 22 September 2014. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
- ^ Allardice, Lisa (14 June 2024). "'Don't read just one book about Sri Lanka': VV Ganeshananthan on her civil war novel". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 September 2024.