The Role Of Contemporary War - Essay Example

The Role Of Contemporary War War is an openly declared of conflict. It should be understood as actual, widespread and intentional armed clash between political communities. Contemporary wars primarily occur between groups within the same country. Another shape of the new wars, other than domestic conflicts, is transnational terrorism, and the war on terrorism fighting against it. Conflict in developing countries, since the end of the cold war, has caused millions of civilian lives and thousands of people are displaced (The legal nature of wars, 2004). It is not only the main cause of poverty in many underdeveloped countries, it also leaves majority of people suffering from mental illness especially the children. The thirty four year war in Afghanistan has left the men, women and children highly traumatized. Other than worrying about the basic necessities of life like water, food, and shelter, they have to worry about staying alive. The children are robbed of their childhoods and adults are mangled (Lewis and Clark, 2011). Those days are long gone when women’s place was considered to be at home, being a wife and a mother, cleaning, cooking, sewing and knitting. But during the World War II and also after that, the role of women totally changed. During the wars now, women are required to fill in the jobs previously done by the men. In spite of deprived conditions like food rationing and separation from family members; there is a great pressure on all healthy women, in wars, to work in one way or the other. During wars, there is wide variety of jobs available for women. Some are required to works as engineers and mechanics; while others have to drive tanks or build ships. During World War II, women for the first time started working in factories making aircraft parts and bombs. They were also employed as air raid wardens, members of the fire service and also in various voluntary jobs helping their community to get through the war. The services of women are not required only during the war but even after an armed conflict, as they frequently play a key role in rebuilding of the communities. Usually in rural areas, they are the chief beneficiaries of the supply of tools, seeds and livestock to support economic security in the wake of a war. Women also play a significant part in preventing injury from, and raising awareness of, landmines, which may continue to cause harm and death to children after the end of hostilities. There is growing acknowledgement that women and children play multiple roles during conflict. They are not only victims who face violence at the hands of the enemy and sometimes their own people, but can also be active participants in the war, directly as combatants, or indirectly, by facilitating fighting through fundraising or stirring their male relatives to commit acts of bravery required at the times or wars. During war, women often become heads of households; women and children learn new skills and play a part in rebuilding local economies and communities and peacemaking (Lindsay, n.d.). There has always been a need for women to assist with the war efforts. But historically, they were never allowed to join the military. Women helped as nurses and cooks; in short they were never at the forefront but assisted the men behind the scenes. With the fighting and the bombing going on in the wars, women are still very much in demand as the nurses and first aid workers. Even if there are plenty of nurse available there is always the need of more to attend the injured. In the field hospitals, medical staff (usually women) works long hours treating the soldiers directly from the battlefield. Due to the hard conditions and many patients dying from their wounds, nurses are required to do all they can to make the patients as comfortable as possible. In spite of long hours and difficult working conditions, the nurses have to keep up the spirits of the soldiers by always smiling and joking with their patients (Stratchan, 2006). With the changing demands of the war, the role of women in the war also changed. The women wear the same uniforms with the similar black shoes as men. Even though the women are not allowed to go into action with the men and fight at the front lines or to use firearms, but apart from that they do all the same work as the men and are paid the same salary. Jobs, for women, in the army vary from clerks, cooks, translators and telephonists to lorry drivers, engineers and motorbike messengers. Women usually do most of the driving in the army; they drive everything from staff cars to trucks and they are also required to be able to repair and maintain the vehicles.  As in Army, women are also recruited in the Navy. This recruitment started during the World War II and is continued to date. Women are doing a wide variety of jobs that were previously done by men. However, they are not allowed on the ships, which go into active service during the war, but they do crew and command the powerful harbour launches, frequently going out in all weathers and other conditions to collect people from landing craft that are anchored at sea They were involved in loading torpedoes onto submarines and in plotting battle progress in operations rooms. Women trained as carpenters and welders, repairing and maintaining ships in naval bases. They do the office work; learn communications and signalling, engineering, driving, weather forecasting (meteorology), mechanics and radar operating. Women now learn skills and perform tasks that were unheard of before the World War II. Women are also trained as pilots and nowadays play a significant part in Air Transport, flying aeroplanes from the factories to the airfields and moving them between airfields. They fly everything from small fighters to heavy bombers. Work for women, other than flying, in the air force includes packing parachutes; operating radar to caution of approaching enemy aircraft, often in dangerous areas; engineering and mechanics. Women work as fitters and as electricians; one of the most skilled jobs in the air force. They forecast the weather, became meteorological officers, which is very important where planning air operations is concerned. They are also involved in interviewing the crews when they return from a bombing raid and in interpreting photographs of enemy targets before a bombing raid (Yilmaz, 2008). Not only women are required to play their part in the wars but children are also very much involved. The military use of children usually takes three distinctive forms: children take direct part in hostilities as child soldiers, or they are used in support roles such as spies, porters, messengers and look outs; or they are also sometimes used for political advantage either in propaganda or as human shields. As the role of women and children increase, trafficking, sexual exploitation and sexual slavery also tend to augment in armed conflict. Women and children who are recruited, either by their own will or by abduction, into combat are in many situations subjected to forced marriages and/or are forced to provide sexual services. Internally displaced and refugee women and children, separated from family members and usual support mechanisms, are also particularly vulnerable to the violence. Not only the enemy but also the government officials, peacekeepers, civilian authorities and aid workers are reported to ask for sexual favours in exchange for basic necessities like food and shelter and safe passage. Inadequate monitoring of camp security also renders women and children vulnerable to forced combat and sexual violence. Women and children suffer excessively and unreasonably from violent conflict. They undergo not only from the by-products of war, but are also sometimes targeted as a stratagem of war. Rape and sexual violence have been acknowledged as tools of war, intended to weaken families and break down the social foundation of societies and communities. Although, at times, men are also victims of gender-based violence, women and children are the primary target. War is no longer just men’s business. In the contemporary wars, the impacts of fighting can be very severe on the women. International Humanitarian Law recognizes this in the general and offers protection to both women and men, but in some specific provisions it provides additional protection to women and also the children. The aim of these particular provisions is to provide added protection for women with regard to their specific physiological and medical requirements, which are frequently, but not always, related to the child-bearing role, and for consideration of privacy (Women protected under international humanitarian law, 2010). Women must especially be protected from sexual violence. This includes forced prostitution, rape or any other form of indecent assault, all of which constitute to be war crimes. Women prisoners are required to be housed separately from men in particular to avoid sexual mistreatment. The UN Security Council has adopted Resolution 1325, a landmark resolution on peace, women and security. It calls for gender sensitive policy in the management of international security and peace, and for increased representation of ladies at all decision-making levels in regional, national and international institutions and mechanisms for the management, prevention, and resolution of clashes and conflicts (Murshed, 2003). References: Lewis, and Clark, 2011, ‘Multimedia: Professor exposes impact of war on Afghan students with nationwide exhibition,’ viewed on May 17, 2011, from http://www.lclark.edu/live/news/10191-multimedia-professor-exposes-impact-of-war-on Lindsay, C. ‘women facing war,’ International Committee of the Red Cross Murshed, S. M. 2003, ‘old and new wars,’ Bulletin, vol. 26. The legal nature of wars, 2004, Cambridge University Press. Stratchan, H. 2006, ‘the changing character of war’, All Souls’ College, Oxford Women protected under international humanitarian law, 2010, ICRC. Yilmaz, M. E. 2008, ‘the new world order: an outline of post-cold war era,’ Turkish journal of international relations, vol. 7, no. 4. Read More