Women As War Criminals

Izabela Steflja is Professor of Practice in Political Science and International Development at Tulane University.Jessica Trisko Darden is Assistant Professor of International Affairs at American University's School of International Service. She is the author of Aiding and Abetting: U.S. Foreign Assistance and State Violence (2019).

"Feminists don't imagine all women are angels. What they do know is that diverse women are analytically interesting. In their careful dig into these four war crimes trials, Izabela Steflja and Jessica Trisko Darden underscore this in neon."—Cynthia Enloe, Clark University, author of Globalization and Militarism: Feminists Make the Link "Women commit atrocities. The study of women who become human rights abusers, however, remains fraught with stereotype, taboo, and denialism. These distortions occlude the careful study of gender and violence and, what is more, marginalize the victims. Izabela Steflja and Jessica Trisko Darden's courageous book responds to these gaps by providing a humanistic, grounded, and rigorous study of four women enmeshed in criminality. Justice for atrocity hinges upon recognizing gender in all aspects—perpetration, suffering, and rebuilding. Women as War Criminals brilliantly advances the accountability project."—Mark A. Drumbl, Washington and Lee University, author of Atrocity, Punishment, and International Law "Through a profile of four women war criminals, this concise book shines a spotlight on women who perpetrate or incite heinous acts of violence and on the ways in which gender stereotypes influence the interpretation of their behavior. Bold and clear, Women as War Criminals stands as a crucial corrective to assumptions about women in war and as an accessible analysis from which students and experts alike will learn."—Scott Straus, University of Wisconsin, Madison, author of Making and Unmaking Nations: War, Leadership, and Genocide in Modern Africa "[Women as War Criminals] stands as an important corrective to former approaches that enshrine women as nurturing and innocent, thus assigning them a lenient sentence; instead the book treats women as responsible, independent offenders... [Women as War Criminals] is bound to inspire further fascinating debates on the relationship between gender and justice."—Haoliang Zhang, Feminist Legal Studies

• 1. Introduction2. Chapter 1: The President3. Chapter 2: The Minister4. Chapter 3: The Soldier5. Chapter 4: The Student6. Conclusion