'More than child bearers or sex machines': how gendered ideologies affect reproductive violence against rebel women

Why do rebel groups perpetrate reproductive violence against women in their own ranks? I argue that the answer to this question lies in the ideologies of armed rebel movements. Ideology identifies a shared vision for an ideal postconflict society – a vision that includes beliefs about how people of different genders ought to contribute to society. Because rebels aim to embody those beliefs within their organizations, expectations for how men and women ought to contribute to the group’s success are rooted in ideology. These gendered expectations also shape attitudes toward pregnancy. If female rebels are expected to contribute to the movement through nontraditional roles, such as combat and leadership positions, then pregnancy might be seen as a threat to those expected contributions. Conversely, if female rebels are expected to contribute to the movement through traditional roles, such as mothers and caretakers, then pregnancy might be seen as a valuable contribution to the movement. I evaluate the ideological commitments, gendered expectations for behavior, and attitudes toward pregnancy within the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and find support for these proposed relationships. I also statistically analyze an original dataset to test additional hypotheses. I find that rebel movements with an ideological commitment to gender equality are more likely to perpetrate forced abortions against women in their own ranks, whereas rebel movements with an ideological commitment to patriarchy are more likely to perpetrate forced pregnancies. From this research, I conclude that the gendered ideologies of rebel movements drive reproductive violence against female rebels.