ABSTRACT
The conditions that led to the civil war in Liberia developed over many years of economic decline, political corruption, rebellions, and unrest. The decade-long repressive regime of Samuel Doe ended in 1990 after a rebellion launched by Charles Taylor, which spiraled into years of violence among rebel factions, devastating the country. A lull ensued when Taylor became president in 1997, but two years later, a new phase of civil war rolled into four years of unprecedented violence—attacks on civilians, public rapes, and child soldier recruitment. The women’s peace movement entered into this conflict as a voice for women and children and to insist on an end to the war. Although ignored at most diplomatic meetings, the women organized a broad-based network in Liberia and in refugee camps in neighboring countries, protested courageously before Taylor and his administration, pleaded with warlords to lay down their weapons, and beseeched international authorities to intervene. Eventually, the women insisted on a peace deal mediated by international diplomats. After the war, they carried Liberia through its largest-ever voter registration drive for women, leading to the victory of Africa’s first elected female head of state, and onto the long road of disarmament, reconciliation, and peacebuilding.
