Written by: Emma Graham
Picturing a woman’s experience of conflict, more often than not, involves them as victims or carers. However, Olivera Simić recently joined AIIA Queensland to challenge these perceptions.
“Write them back into the history from which they have been erased”, she stated at the beginning of her talk.
Simić is a renowned author who recently published Madam War Criminal, an insight into the motives of Biljana Plavšić. The only female political leader to be persecuted by the International Criminal Tribunal. Simić has a particularly raw connection to this conflict, having lived through the Bosnian War herself.
Her talk in August highlighted the necessity of recognising women in positions of power and emphasised the lack of recognition towards female offenders of war crimes.
“When we talk about women in war, we merely talk and think about women as victims and survivors of war,” said Simić.
She discussed the necessity of female voices across all aspects of conflict. As historians, journalists, politicians, and academics, not solely victims of war crimes. Historically, women have been affected by conflict at a much higher rate than men. But it is also important to place women at the centre of decision-making in an effort to return their political agency.
“Women are experts also in these fields and are equally qualified to analyse, interpret, and speak with authority on wars,” she stated.
Not only are women typically thought of as victims, but also the primary caregivers following the harsh consequences of conflict. Simić brought attention to the increased number of amputee veterans from the Russia-Ukraine war, and the expectation for female family members to tend to them. She spoke to the lack of recognition and support these women will receive, as they put aside their own goals to support the men in their lives.
Simić analysed the lack of media attention towards female perpetrators of war crimes. A thought-provoking topic, not inherently suggesting that there should be more women committing crimes, but giving more recognition to the small number of women who have.
Beyond her personal experiences with Biljana Plavšić, she brought attention to the actions of Pauline Nyiramasuhuko and the topical debate of the ISIS Brides who frequent Australian headlines.
“Their actions appear to violate not only legal and moral norms, but also deeply rooted expectations of what women should be,” she explained.
Simić suggested the reason female perpetrators do not receive mass media attention for their crimes is due to a lack of international interest. That informing the world of their crimes to the same extent as male offenders taints the nurturing and innocent nature that is expected of women.
Her insights into female experiences of conflict led to a rather insightful Q&A. Such a complex topic made phrasing questions difficult, but allowed for inquisitive and structured debate on the role of women in peacebuilding and international institutions.
To conclude her discussion, Simić suggested to the room to pay more attention to the genders of those who headline the news. She asked the audience to frequently question why women are not at the forefront of political decision-making, and what the world would look like if they were.
In a final statement, she suggested, “They bring different perspectives, views, and experiences of women that are often or always, I would say, not picked up when we sign peace agreements.”
