Journal of Education and Research

Journal of Education and Research, Volume 15, Issue 1, 2025, 89-112

Publication date: May 30, 2025

Views: 2 | Downloads: 1

This article presents the lived experiences of female ex-combatants in Nepal. The study explores the transition from militarized identities to civilian lives in the post-conflict context. It is an ethnographic study which was conducted with former members of the CPN (Maoist) People’s Liberation Army (PLA). The researcher uses feminist theory to examine the multifaceted struggles of social reintegration. Education, infrastructure and peer networks serve as pull factors for reintegration. Family rejection, caste-based discrimination and cultural stigmas act as persistent barriers. The article highlights how these women convert themselves in new social roles in politically charged and patriarchal environments despite their revolutionary pasts. The findings challenge simplistic DDR models and argue for a feminist reimagining of reintegration. The study contributes to larger debates on peacebuilding and gendered reintegration. It also shows that community acceptance alone does not guarantee transformative reintegration.

female ex-combatants social reintegration post-conflict DDR Nepal

1. Aning, K., & Edu-Afful, F. (2013). Unintended impacts and the gendered consequences of peacekeeping economies in Liberia. International Peacekeeping, 20(1), 17–32. https://doi.org/10.1080/13533312.2013.761828
2. Bhandari, C. (2016). Social reality of armed conflict and peace: Expectations and realities of female ex-combatants in Nepal. In P. Adhikari, S. Ghimire, & V. Mallik (Eds.), Nepal transition to peace: A decade of the comprehensive peace accord (pp. 243–259). Nepal Transition to Peace Institute.
3. de Beauvoir, S. (2011). The second sex (C. Borde & S. Malovany-Chevallier, Trans.). Vintage Books. (Original work published 1949)
4. Berghof Foundation. (2012). Reintegration challenges of ex-Maoist combatants in Nepal. Berghof Foundation.
5. Butler, J. (1990). Gender trouble: Feminism and the subversion of identity. Routledge.
6. Bhandari, R. K., & Robins, S. (2016, November 21). Towards a transformative justice [Opinion]. The Kathmandu Post.
7. Bowd, R., & Alpaslan, O. (2013). How to assess social reintegration of ex-combatants. Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding, 7(4), 453–475. https://doi.org/10.1080/17502977.2012.727537
8. Dahal, S. (2015). Challenging the boundaries: The narratives of the female ex-combatants in Nepal. In S. Shekhawat (Ed.), Female combatants in conflict and peace: Challenging gender in violent and post-conflict reintegration (pp. 185–199). Palgrave Macmillan.
9. De Vries, H., & Wiegink, N. (2011). Breaking up and going home? Contesting two assumptions in the demobilization and reintegration of former combatants. International Peacekeeping, 18(1), 38–51. https://doi.org/10.1080/13533312.2011.527506
10. Gear, S. (2002, September 20). Wounded healers: The rehabilitation of ex-combatants in South Africa. Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation. http://www.csvr.org.za
11. Ghimire, B. (2020, August 28). Teachers challenge local governments' decision to mandatorily enroll their children in public schools. The Kathmandu Post. https://tinyurl.com/mtmwcj4f
12. Giddens, A., Duneier, M., & Applebaum, R. (2017). Essentials of sociology. W. W. Norton & Company.
13. Heinemann-Grüder, A. (2002). Becoming an ex-military man: Demobilization and reintegration of military professionals in Eastern Europe. Bonn International Center for Conversion.
14. hooks, b. (1984). Feminist theory: From margin to center. South End Press.
15. Kaplan, O., & Nussio, E. (2018). Community counts: The social reintegration of ex-combatants in Colombia. Conflict Management and Peace Science, 35(2), 132–153. https://doi.org/10.1177/0738894215614506
16. K. C., L., & Van der Gemma, D. (2018) Living Maoist gender ideology: Experiences of women ex-combatants in Nepal. International Feminist Journal of Politics.
17. K. C., L. (2019). Everyday realities of reintegration: Experiences of Maoist “verified” women ex-combatants in the aftermath of war in Nepal. Conflict, Security & Development, 19(5), 453–474. https://doi.org/10.1080/14678802.2019.1658969
18. K.C., L. (2025). Do local norms affect women ex-combatants’ reintegration in the postwar era? Global Studies Quarterly, 5(1), ksaf015. https://doi.org/10.1093/isagsq/ksaf015
19. Ketola, H. (2020). Withdrawing from politics? Gender, agency and women ex-fighters in Nepal. Security Dialogue, 51(6), 519–536. https://doi.org/10.1177/0967010620906322
20. Kingma, K., & Sayers, V. (1995). Demobilization in the Horn of Africa. Bonn International Center for Conversion.
21. Kingma, K. (2002). Demobilisation and peacebuilding in Africa. In S. Newman & A. Schnabel (Eds.), Recovering from civil conflict (pp. 181–201). Frank Cass.
22. Ketola, H. (2020). Withdrawing from politics? Gender, agency and women ex-fighters in Nepal. International Feminist Journal of Politics, 22(2), 205–223.
23. Macfarlane, K. (2023). Child soldiers in Nepal: Reconceptualizing reintegration and identity. International Affairs, 99(3), 1211–1230. https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiad106
24. Maringira, G., & Brankovic, J. (2013). The persistence of military identities among ex-combatants in South Africa. Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation & University of the Western Cape.
25. McMullin, J. R. (2013). Integration or separation? The stigmatisation of ex-combatants after war. Review of International Studies, 39(2), 385–414. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0260210512000228
26. Meyers, D. T. (1999). Feminist perspectives on the self. In E. N. Zalta (Ed.), The Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/feminism-self/
27. Özerdem, A. (2008). Post-armed conflict recovery: Disarmament, demobilization and reintegration. I.B. Tauris.
28. Özerdem, A. (2012). A re-conceptualisation of ex-combatant reintegration: A ‘social reintegration’ approach. Conflict, Security & Development, 12(1), 51–73. https://doi.org/10.1080/14678802.2012.667661
29. Pauls, E. (2023). Gendered reintegration: Women’s stakes and agency in post-war contexts [Policy Brief]. Berghof Foundation.
30. Podder, S. (2012). From recruitment to reintegration: Communities and ex-combatants in post-conflict Liberia. International Peacekeeping, 19(2), 186–202.
31. Rhea, R. W. (2014). A comparative study of ex-combatant reintegration in the Great Lakes region. World Bank.
32. Robins, S., & Bhandari, R. K. (2016, May). Poverty, stigma and alienation: Reintegration challenges of ex-Maoist combatants in Nepal [Participatory action research project report]. Centre for Applied Human Rights, University of York.
33. Subedi, D. B., & Jenkins, B. (2020). The nexus between reintegration of ex-combatants and reconciliation in Nepal: A social capital approach. In Reconciliation in conflict-affected communities (pp. 41–56). Springer.
34. Subedi, D. B. (2014). Discontents and resistance of 'unverified' ex-combatants and challenges to their rehabilitation in Nepal. Agrarian South: Journal of Political Economy, 3(2), 203–237. https://doi.org/10.1177/2277976014550772
35. Swain, J., & King, B. (2022). Using informal conversations in qualitative research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 21, Article 16094069221085056. https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069221085056
36. Tajfel, H. (1974). Social identity and intergroup behavior. Journal of Social Issues, 30(3), 41–78. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.1974.tb00706.x
37. United Nations Inter-Agency Working Group on DDR. (2022). Integrated DDR Standards (IDDRS) 4.30: Reintegration. United Nations.
38. Upreti, B. R., Shivakoti, S., & Bharati, K. (2018). Frustrated and confused: Mapping the socio-political struggles of female ex-combatants in Nepal. Journal of International Women’s Studies, 19(4), 32–52.
39. Upreti, B. R., & Shivakoti, S. (2018). The struggle of female ex-combatants in Nepal. Peace Review, 30(1), 78–86. https://doi.org/10.1080/10402659.2017.1419937
40. Walby, S. (1990). Theorizing patriarchy. Basil Blackwell.

This article is prepared based on Author’s PhD in 2021 from Kathmandu University School of Education Nepal which was supported by Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) and Nepal Center for Contemporary Research (NCCR). The author is deeply grateful to the ex-combatants and stakeholders who shared their experiences.

The author declared no potential conflicts of interest concerning this article’s authorship and publication.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.