The Gendered Roots of One-Sided Violence : A quantitative study on gender inequal education and its effect ongovernment committed violence against civilians

Sammanfattning

One-sided violence perpetrated by states against civilian has been one of the most popular negative trends in recent years, the question why is somewhat answered although some questions remain. The role of gender inequality and furthermore gendered educational inclusion has been something that has had little room in the discussion of non-selective targeting. Gendered violence however has provided a general view of how inequal education have an effect on one-sided violence. This paper investigates whether gender inequality in education is associated with one-sided violence in sub-Saharan Africa between 1989-2024. Using cross- national and time-series data, the study examines two hypotheses: first, that lower levels of female enrolment are associated with higher levels of one-sided violence, and second, that higher GDP per capita is associated with lower levels of violence against civilians through reduced educational inequality.Female enrolment and educational inequality are operationalised using five-year moving means to capture longer-term social capacity. The analysis uses Ordinary Least Squared regression models with logged fatalities as the dependent variable and includes economic, social and regime type controls. The results provide no statistical support for a direct relationship between female enrolment levels and one-sided violence when controls are introduced. However, graphical analysis suggests a positive association between educational inequality and predicted levels of violence, holding GDP per capita constant.