ABSTRACT
This chapter examines women's involvement in ethnonational separatist violence. Although women, especially as mothers, are viewed in all societies as the embodiment of the 'nation' due to their biological role in reproducing future generations, women as perpetrators of political violence and terrorism on behalf of their nation has been examined. Although women were by no means 'equal' to the predominantly male leadership in the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Euskadi ta Askatasuna or Basque Homeland and Freedom (ETA), the women have certainly challenged the male leadership to become more inclusive of females and have even introduced feminist concerns into the decision-making process. It makes sense that women who have grown up in families where strident Basque nationalism and Irish Republicanism were inculcated to the children are more likely to be affected by this ideological influence.
