Paper short abstract:

This article aims to focus on indigenous women’s roles and experiences in peace politics in the CHT struggle for autonomy. Hill women were drawn into this struggle both advertently and inadvertently. It is interesting to see how CHT peace politics opened space for women and their issues.

Paper long abstract:

This article aims to unearth the uncharted field of indigenous women's roles and experiences in peace politics in the CHT centered on its long-drawn ethnic identity based struggle for autonomy that started in the 1970s and ended formally in 1997 by the signing of a Peace Accord. Still conflict persists in different forms and peace is yet to be established. Hill women were eventually drawn into this protracted struggle both advertently and inadvertently. Consequently, they affected and were affected by the conflict equally as their male counterparts. Ironically though the dominant narrative of the CHT struggle tend to focus only on men's experience, ignoring women's multiple experiences and contributions.

There are many aspects to women's experience in conflict situation, which are no longer judged in isolation from their roles and status in peace making and peace building process, recognizing that armed conflict affects women in different ways and women play an important role in conflict prevention, conflict resolution, and peace building processes. Yet the reality is that women's experiences and roles in peace and conflict are still largely underrepresented and excluded. This is especially true for the CHT conflict. Against this backdrop, it is imperative to see how the politics of peace has been constructed in the CHT; how women played parts in the CHT peace politics over the periods; what differences their inclusion and exclusion have made upon the outcome of the peace processes and what bearings it has had upon the gender relations in the society.