ABSTRACT
For centuries women have suffered immeasurable, devastating consequences of wars they had no hand in making. But even when they have been participants, the gendered devastation of war has gone unmeasured, not because it was immeasurable but because it has been seen as an inevitable if regrettable harm integral to the armed conflicts conducted in the name of national security or national interest. This article presents evidence of how, over recent decades, Africa has suffered an inordinate degree of this devastation. Such waste of human lives and talents has led many to question the utility of armed conflict as well as the efficacy and morality of war itself. The dimensions of the African tragedies and their femicidal consequences highlight the urgency of devising and implementing an alternative security system to assure the human security of women and the nations whose wellbeing depends upon them. The contributors to this volume, in arguing for such a system change, for the elimination of armed conflicts and the weapons with which they are conducted, suggest the following inquiry toward the consideration of these goals.
