Don’t Mention the War! International Financial Institutions and the Gendered Circuits of Violence in Post-Conflict

The authors argue that International Financial Institutions (IFIs), such as the IMF and World Bank, exercise extraordinary leverage in post-conflict states to impose neoliberal reforms that often exacerbate gendered insecurity. By introducing the concept of 'gendered circuits of violence,' the paper demonstrates how macroeconomic policies—including austerity, debt-based financialization, and extractive resource economics—disproportionately burden women and marginalized groups. The text highlights that while IFIs have adopted the rhetoric of gender equality as 'smart economics,' these efforts are often superficial and fail to address the material realities of unpaid care work and structural violence. Case studies from Ukraine, East Timor, and the Western Balkans illustrate how IFI-mandated reforms can lead to increased household debt, the erosion of social welfare, and even the incitement of physical violence against women.

• International Financial Institutions (IFIs) possess significantly more power to impose policy conditions in post-conflict settings than in stable countries due to the absence of functioning representative institutions.
• The 'gendered circuits of violence' framework reveals that violence is not just a feature of war zones but is reproduced through the global economy via bodies, IFIs as distributors of harm, and spaces created by debt, care, and remittances.
• IFIs often treat gender equality as a tool for economic growth ('smart economics') rather than a matter of justice, viewing women primarily as new market frontiers for consumers and debtors.
• In Ukraine, IMF-conditional loans requiring structural reforms led to increased household taxes and reduced spending on social welfare, placing a disproportionate burden on women who manage household wellbeing and support the military.
• Microfinance programs promoted by IFIs in post-conflict East Timor have interacted with local kin-based structures to increase household tensions and create conditions for increased violence against women.
• In the Western Balkans, IFI-led economic reforms and financialization have burdened households with unsustainable debt, while gender-responsive budgeting is characterized as a 'pseudo activity' that fails to offset the impact of macroeconomic policies.
• The IMF's internal guidance limits gender analysis to cases of 'macroeconomic significance,' meaning gender issues are not presumed to be covered in every country report or every year.
• The authors argue that post-conflict states serve as 'laboratories' for neoliberal experimentation where macroeconomic policies are tested with minimal resistance before being applied to other austerity zones.

APA

True, J., & Hożic, A. A. (n.d.). Don’t Mention the War! International Financial Institutions and the Gendered Circuits of Violence in Post-Conflict. Peace Research Institute Oslo. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/ee3bd24b-98e4-439a-9209-301efd9ea47d/Dont mention the war International Financial Institutions and the gendered circuits of violence in post-conflict.pdf?inline=true

Chicago

True, Jacqui, and Aida A. Hożic. Don’t Mention the War! International Financial Institutions and the Gendered Circuits of Violence in Post-Conflict. Peace Research Institute Oslo, n.d. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/ee3bd24b-98e4-439a-9209-301efd9ea47d/Dont mention the war International Financial Institutions and the gendered circuits of violence in post-conflict.pdf?inline=true.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=True |first1=Jacqui |last2=Hożic |first2=Aida A. |title=Don’t Mention the War! International Financial Institutions and the Gendered Circuits of Violence in Post-Conflict |publisher=Peace Research Institute Oslo |url=https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/ee3bd24b-98e4-439a-9209-301efd9ea47d/Dont mention the war International Financial Institutions and the gendered circuits of violence in post-conflict.pdf?inline=true |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{truenddont, author = {True, Jacqui and Hożic, Aida A.}, title = {{Don’t Mention the War! International Financial Institutions and the Gendered Circuits of Violence in Post-Conflict}}, institution = {Peace Research Institute Oslo}, url = {https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/ee3bd24b-98e4-439a-9209-301efd9ea47d/Dont mention the war International Financial Institutions and the gendered circuits of violence in post-conflict.pdf?inline=true}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }