On April 10, USIP hosted a panel discussion co-sponsored by The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study and Women in International Security.

Speakers Colonel Ritchie and Captain Halfaker have both had missions in Iraq and spoke about the experiences of women in the military and the psychological effects of war. Dr. Bishai spoke of the gendered nature of war and how changes in warfare may allow for more generally accepted roles for women in the military.

Some of the issues raised were whether special policies were being developed by the U.S. military to deal with the special needs of victims of systematic rape often encountered in ethnic conflicts, and the nature of the different responses to threat and injury by men and women in the thick of combat. Panelists also commented on whether the use of the military to conduct both offensive and peacebuilding missions is appropriate, and what can be done to better provide for personnel who can deal with the elements of stability and reconstruction that follow the use of military force.

"In the War Zone: How Does Gender Matter?" was formed as an extension of the Radcliffe Institute's annual gender conference, held in November 2005.

Speakers

• Colonel Elspeth Cameron Ritchie '80
  U.S. Army
• Linda Bishai '86
  Senior Program Officer | USIP Education Program
• Captain Dawn Halfaker
  U.S. Army (ret.)
• Jennifer Leaning '67, SM '70
  Radcliffe Institute senior advisor in international and policy studies; professor of the practice of international health, Harvard School of Public Health; and assistant professor of medicine, Harvard Medical School