2013 – Professional – Elizabeth D Herman
A Woman’s War documents the lives of women engaged in recent conflicts worldwide, as well as their struggle for justice, rights, and their identity as female fighters.
Women have played key roles in recent conflicts, serving as combatants, nurses, organizers, spies, and more. Over the past three years, I have documented the stories of 116 women in five countries: revolutionaries of Egypt’s recent uprisings, women on all sides of the 1992-1995 Bosnian War, women of the North Vietnamese Army, Protestant and Catholic women of the decades-long Troubles in Northern Ireland, and freedom fighters of the 1971 Bangladeshi Liberation War.
Though the locations and conflicts vary greatly, A Woman’s War reveals concerns and emotions common across time and place. The story of each woman is a powerful narrative of trauma and survival, of hatred and belonging, of forgiveness and peace. Theirs are histories that many of their families, communities, and nations have yet to confront, yet whose acknowledgement and documentation are vital if these countries—and the women who have given so much to them—are to find justice and peace.
