Women’s Participation in Insurgency: A Case of Baloch Insurgent Movement in Pakistan

Abstract

Abstract Many studies have been conducted to identify and address the motivation of women to participate in violent political organizations and non-state actors globally. This research study explores the individual, socio-economic, political, and psychological motivations behind the participation of women with violent non-state actors in Balochistan. This thesis also unfolds the explicit non-traditional occurrence of women in Baloch insurgency, particularly after a few cases of women’s Participation with violent non-state actors in Balochistan. The research study has investigated women’s participation with insurgents and violent political groups such as the Liberation of Tigers of Tamil Eelam, Palestine, the Colombian Civil War, the Kurd movement, Chechnya, and some others to understand similarities of motivation between women as insurgents and international women as insurgents. The aim is to trace the motivation of women joining violent political organizations and insurgent groups. A qualitative method has been employed to address the drivers of motivation for women to join insurgent groups and a non-reversible change in the Baloch insurgency. This thesis further engaged several respondents to explore a non-traditional change in Baloch insurgency that has taken place due to the participation of women with violent non-state actors in Balochistan.