Description
Gendered power dynamics during the protracted armed conflict and in the post-war war setting in Afghanistan are inherently complex. The gender spectrum within which armed and other types of violence produce a diverse range of experiences, including threats to women's survival, bolstering of militarized masculinities, marginalizing men within hegemonic masculinities, and violating the rights of LGBTQ+ communities (Edenborg, 2021). Also, previous studies have observed how various gender dynamics, including sexualities (same-sex relationships) play out within different armed groups, some of which are part of Afghan cultural practices, instruments of strategic security toolkit and at times, exploitative relations (Bosia & Weiss, 2013; Manchanda, 2015). By applying queer perspectives in conflict and peace studies, our paper develops a nuanced understanding of the gendered dynamics at play in pre- and post-intervention Afghanistan. Our paper is guided by the following questions: How have sexualities been diversified but also exploited, antagonized, and targeted by armed groups before and after the Taliban takeover in 2021? How sexual violence against LGBTQ+ individuals have been instrumentalized by the current Taliban regime? What are the functions of using latter violence to the regime? Our study relies on primary qualitative data from Northern Afghanistan and secondary textual and visual data.
