Made to make you fail : A Quantitative Study on the Effects of Conflict Intensity on Women's Political Empowerment in Sub-Saharan Africa

Sammanfattning

Conflicts often present a nightmarish scenario for any group or society that is caught up in one. The destruction that a conflict brings occurs not just on a material level but on an institutional and emotional one as well. There are however times where conflicts present opportunities of change for those underprivileged in a society. One such group is women. This thesis will examine whether internal conflicts can function as a transformative force that inadvertently leads to an increase in certain aspects of gender equality. The hypothesis around which this analysis is centered proposes that the more intense an internal conflict is, the more will women gain political empowerment due to them getting new opportunities. This is tested by examining 54 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa during a 33 year period. The results reject the hypothesis, instead giving support to ideas of democratic governments as a catalyst for gender equality. This has important implications for not just for this field of study but also for organizations aiming to support women caught in conflict.