Women in Military Strategy… | Matondang | 215
WOMEN IN MILITARY STRATEGY: A REVIEW OF WOMEN EMANCIPATION
AND PROTECTION
Erlinda Matondang
1
Indonesia Defense University
(erlinda.matondang@gmail.com)
Abstract– Whether in conflict and war or peacebuilding, women are always considered victims of
human rights violation and the vulnerable. In recent decades, there has been efforts to advocate
for the protection of women's rights and women empowerment in the name of emancipation. This
has allowed women's presence in several key sectors, including politics and military, resulting in a
new role for women as resources in military strategy. This has put the policy to protect women
during war into question, especially when women have now become a combatant. This paper
analyzes this issue through two concepts (women protection and military strategy to understand
the military's perception toward women's position and one theory (feminism) to understand
women's perception toward their roles in the military during war. Therefore, the object of this
observation is the role of women in military strategy with regard to the implementation of women'
rights protection and military strategy. In this observation, this paper collects secondary data
through literature review. Through this observation, we can have broader understanding of the
role of women in military strategy because the primary purpose of this paper is to assess the
possibility for changing women protection during war policy to reflect the current condition.
Keywords: emancipation, human rights, military strategy, women protection
Introduction
n wars and armed conflicts, civilians
always face fear and insecurity over
the destruction of livelihoods, being
displaced, loss of family, and death.
Worse things were experienced by most
women during World War II as they must
face acts of sexual harassment and rape.
This has led to the establishment of a
number of policies on the protection of
women by the United Nations (UN).
The idea that women are vulnerable
group during war or armed conflict is still
dominant up to this day. The work plan of
International Committee and the Red
Cross (ICRC)
2
, an organization that
actively encourages the protection of
1
Defense Diplomacy Department of the Indonesia Defense University.
2
International Committee and the Red Cross, Women and War: Special Report, (2003), p. 11.
victims of armed conflict, shows that in
2003, the ICRC's activities were focused
on identifying and considering specific
and general protection, health assistance
and needs of women affected by war,
including assistance programs for food,
water, sanitation, and reunification with
disappeared families. In other words, one
focus of the ICRC's performance is the
protection of women affected by war
who are declared as victims, not
perpetrators of war or combatants.
Along with the times, women get a
more intensive role in encouraging
efforts to handle armed conflict and
maintain post-war peace. As stated by
