“When joining the FARC, women like me felt empowered by showing to our male peers that we were capable of being harsh fighters, of thinking strategically and of working as agents, rather than helpers”.

The role of women in Yemen has transformed throughout the conflict period. For a country that consistently suffers to uphold and promote the rights of women, there are those individuals and groups who prevail. This chapter will explore the changing roles of women in Yemen, and how the perceptions of women in peacebuilding contexts have transformed between the time of the postArab Spring peace negotiations in the National Dialogue council, into the role that women take in today’s conflict.

In brief, security is a process of political ordering. In addition, it is connected with established power relations, hierarchical gender norms and inequalities, all in highly masculinized structures, where ideas of hegemonic masculinity overshadow conceptions of femininity. In these male-dominated structures, women are regularly excluded, under-represented and marginalized.

As Daesh continues to lose ground, the Syrian civil war and the conflict in Iraq have entered in a new phase. In the past months, Assad’s forces, backed by Russia and Iran, have consolidated a strong presence in the western and eastern part of the country, reducing most of Daesh strongholds into ashes.