Women, War & Peace (2009)

Women, War & Peace is a bold PBS television series challenging the conventional wisdom that war and peace are men’s domain. The vast majority of today’s conflicts are not fought by nation states and their armies, but rather by informal entities: gangs and warlords using small arms and improvised weapons. The series reveals how the post-Cold War proliferation of small arms has changed the landscape of war, with women becoming primary targets and suffering unprecedented casualties. Yet they are simultaneously emerging as necessary partners in brokering lasting peace and as leaders in forging new international laws governing conflict.

With depth and complexity, Women, War & Peace spotlights the stories of women in conflict zones from Bosnia to Afghanistan and Colombia to Liberia, placing women at the center of an urgent dialogue about conflict and security, and reframing our understanding of modern warfare.

Among the women spotlighted in the original series are Afghan women’s rights activists risking their lives to make sure that women have a seat at the table in peace talks with the Taliban (Peace Unveiled); the courageous Bosnian women who broke history’s great silence and testified about their rape and sexual enslavement, leading to a historic court victory (I Came to Testify); two extraordinary Colombian women who braved death threats to remain on the gold-rich land that has sustained their community for centuries (The War We Are Living); and the remarkable story of the Liberian women, led by activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Leymah Gbowee, who came together to end a bloody civil war and bring peace to their shattered country (Pray the Devil Back to Hell).