The Effects of Internal Armed Conflict on Women’s Labour Rights

The study finds that internal armed conflict generally leads to a net negative change in women's labour rights during and immediately after conflict. While some qualitative literature suggests conflicts can create opportunities for women's employment, this large-n analysis indicates that negative mechanisms—such as post-conflict insecurity, violence, and a return to traditional gender roles—outweigh potential gains.

• Internal armed conflict is associated with a negative change in women's labour rights in the aftermath of conflict, specifically during the conflict itself and for a post-conflict period of up to five years.
• The negative impact on women's labour rights is persistent, remaining significant when the post-conflict period is extended to ten years.
• While both minor conflicts and wars negatively affect women's labour rights, ongoing internal wars have a larger negative impact on the level of these rights than minor internal conflicts.
• The intensity of the conflict (whether it is a minor conflict or a war) does not significantly affect the change in women's labour rights during the five-year post-conflict period; the mere occurrence of conflict is the decisive factor.
• Higher levels of GDP per capita and women's political rights are both positively and significantly associated with strengthened labour rights for women.
• The relationship between internal conflict and women's labour rights is sensitive to geographic region; while negative and significant in Asia and the Middle East, the association in the Americas was positive but non-significant.
• The study suggests that negative mechanisms, such as the normalization of violence and the 'male breadwinner bias' where employers prioritize male employment, outweigh potential positive ripple effects like increased female labour force participation during conflict.
• Post-conflict insecurity and the relocation of gender-based violence from the public to the private sphere act as significant barriers to women's economic participation.

APA

Dyvesether, N. M. (2019). The Effects of Internal Armed Conflict on Women’s Labour Rights. Peace Research Institute Oslo. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/aa918ec3-de57-473e-af96-a1b602a4750b/Masters thesis_Natalie M Dyvesether.pdf?inline=true

Chicago

Dyvesether, Natalie M. The Effects of Internal Armed Conflict on Women’s Labour Rights. Peace Research Institute Oslo, 2019. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/aa918ec3-de57-473e-af96-a1b602a4750b/Masters thesis_Natalie M Dyvesether.pdf?inline=true.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Dyvesether |first1=Natalie M. |title=The Effects of Internal Armed Conflict on Women’s Labour Rights |publisher=Peace Research Institute Oslo |date=2019 |url=https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/aa918ec3-de57-473e-af96-a1b602a4750b/Masters thesis_Natalie M Dyvesether.pdf?inline=true |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{dyvesether2019effects, author = {Dyvesether, Natalie M.}, title = {{The Effects of Internal Armed Conflict on Women’s Labour Rights}}, institution = {Peace Research Institute Oslo}, year = {2019}, url = {https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/aa918ec3-de57-473e-af96-a1b602a4750b/Masters thesis_Natalie M Dyvesether.pdf?inline=true}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }