Akter ili žrtva? Šrilankanske militantice za vrijeme međuvlašća
Agent or Victim? The Sri Lankan Woman Militant in the Interregnum

Summary/Abstract: Neloufer de Mel examines the situation of women militants, members of the Tamil Tigers and JVP from Sri Lanka, and questions militarisation of women. Moments of national crisis lead to erosion or destabilisation of national values and until that moment accepted certainties, therefore enabling participation of women in combat. Women's autonomy is not guaranteed by conscription itself. The author researches whether the radical women militants were in position to transform their societies in order to ensure greater social justice and gender equality. During the interregnum period, when they have participated in fights for the desired state, women have been limited in Tamil Tigers and in JVP even in moment of their most innovative empowerment, as women have often been used as an addition to male fighters, and not as active participants with all rights. Use of women participation in the combat as an acknowledgment of their rights and as a measure of "liberation policy" means neglect of male-centric need for ethnic-nationalist ideology. Even when woman soldier "passes limits of traditional women identity, is there a price, of course, besides death, that is being paid for such "freedom""? The author answers that women soldiers have experienced significant loses "in gender constructs domain and especially regarding women's sexuality and reproduction that is being evaluated inside the domain".

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