Women in the Gulf War

Women were active in a number of roles during the Gulf War.

## Women in the military

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The Gulf War marked the first conflict in which women officially took on combat roles in the Canadian Armed Forces.[1] Almost all combat positions had been opened up to women in Canada a couple of years earlier, in 1989, except for submarine service, which was only opened to women in 2001.[2]

The war also marked the then-single largest deployment of women to a combat zone in American military history, with over 40 000 female American soldiers deployed.[3][4] In 1991, the United States Congress lifted the country's prohibition on women flying warplanes in combat.[5]

Women soldiers who were taken prisoner by Iraqi forces faced torture and sexual assault.[6] Women soldiers also sometimes faced sexual assault from male soldiers who were fighting alongside them.[7]

A number of studies have been conducted on the health of women veterans from the war. A 1997 American study found that "women's health care needs during the Persian Gulf War were reported to be very similar to those of men, with the exception of gynecologic problems, which generally were not serious and did not require hospitalization."[8] A 2006 American study found that "deployed women were more often in the Army, single, without children, college educated, and reported fewer vaccinations."[9] A 2020 American study on Gulf War syndrome found that "the way the Gulf War illness manifests itself may be different in female than male veterans."[10]

## Women in the Kuwaiti Resistance

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Many Kuwaiti women participated in protests and acts of civil disobedience and were active in the Kuwaiti Resistance[11] A prominent member of the resistance was Asrār il-Gabandi [wd].[12] She was caught in November 1990 and executed in 14 January 1991 after being tortured for 72 days.[13] The role women played in the resistance differed and included using disguises to infiltrate key installations to gather information, transporting weapons, using technology to broadcast the occupation's actions, and directly targeting the Iraqi army in its checkpoints and gathering spots[14][15]

## Women civilians

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According to Human Rights Watch: "in the years following the 1991 Gulf War, many of the positive steps that had been taken to advance women's and girls' status in Iraqi society were reversed due to a combination of legal, economic, and political factors. The most significant political factor was Saddam Hussein's decision to embrace Islamic and tribal traditions as a political tool in order to consolidate power. In addition, the U.N. sanctions imposed after the war have had a disproportionate impact on women and children (especially girls)."[16]

The circumstances resulting from the Gulf War and then the Kurdish uprising in Iraq in 1991, gave the Kurdish region of Iraq an essentially autonomous situation for a period, despite the conflicts between zones controlled by the largest nationalist parties.[17][18] This allowed the development of some claims to women's rights, which in turn influenced some of the women who would become active in founding the Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq.[19][20]

## In popular media

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Carrie Crenshaw of the University of Alabama has argued that "print media reports about 'women in the Gulf War' reveal the privileging of heterosexual, white U.S. women as the cultural norm."[21][22] American journalist Naomi Wolf applauded the role of American women soldiers in the war, arguing that they advanced women's rights.[23]

## References

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1. ^ "Gulf War - Veterans Affairs Canada". 23 January 2020.
2. ^ "Canadian Women and War | The Canadian Encyclopedia". www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca.
3. ^ "Women's Role in Combat: The War Resumes".
4. ^ "Sen. John McCain Remembers the Female Vets of the Gulf War". 11 November 2014.
5. ^ "How This Female Gulf War Veteran Champions the Next Generation of Women in Aviation". Forbes.
6. ^ "Pentagon Details Abuse of American POWs in Iraq: Gulf War: Broken bones, torture, sexual threats are reported. It could spur further calls for war crimes trial". Los Angeles Times. 2 August 1991.
7. ^ "Rape in the military". May 25, 1998.
8. ^ Murphy, F; Browne, D; Mather, S; Scheele, H; Hyams, KC (October 1997). "Women in the Persian Gulf War: health care implications for active duty troops and veterans". Military Medicine. 162 (10): 656–660\. doi:10.1093/milmed/162.10.656. PMID 9339076.
9. ^ Carney, CP; Sampson, TR; Voelker, M; Woolson, R; Thorne, P; Doebbeling, BN (August 2003). "Women in the Gulf War: combat experience, exposures, and subsequent health care use". Military Medicine. 168 (8): 654–661\. doi:10.1093/milmed/168.8.654. PMID 12943043.
10. ^ Sullivan, Kimberly; Krengel, Maxine; Heboyan, Vahé; Schildroth, Samantha; Wilson, Col Candy; Iobst, Stacey; Klimas, Nancy; Coughlin, Steven S. (1 June 2020). "Prevalence and Patterns of Symptoms Among Female Veterans of the 1991 Gulf War Era: 25 Years Later". Journal of Women's Health. 29 (6): 819–826\. doi:10.1089/jwh.2019.7705. PMID 32250195.
* "Female Gulf War combat veterans have persistent symptoms more than 25 years later". ScienceDaily (Press release). May 26, 2020.
11. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-04-30.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
12. ^ "كونا : مكتب الشهيد الكويتي يبرز شهيدات الكويت على هامش اليوم العالمي للمرأة في الاكسبو - عام - 10/03/2022". www.kuna.net.kw. Retrieved 2025-07-25.
13. ^ اسرار الكويت: السيرة الذاتية للشهيدة، أسرار القبندي : كفاحها ونضالها by نورية السداني (in Arabic)
14. ^ https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/tr/pdf/ADA309263.pdf pp. 22-23
15. ^ "المرأة... لم تستأذن أحداً لمقاومة الغزاة - الراي". www.alraimedia.com. Retrieved 2025-07-25.
16. ^ "Background on Women's Status in Iraq Prior to the Fall of the Saddam Hussein Government (November 2003)".
17. ^ Mojab, Shahrzad; Gorman, Rachel (2007). "Dispersed Nationalism: War, Diaspora And Kurdish Women's Organizing". Journal of Middle East Women's Studies. 3 (1): 58–85\. doi:10.2979/mew.2007.3.1.58. JSTOR 10.2979/mew.2007.3.1.58. S2CID 144958845.
18. ^ Voller, Yaniv (May 2014). "Countering Violence Against Women in Iraqi Kurdistan: State-Building and Transnational Advocacy". International Journal of Middle East Studies. 46 (2): 351–372\. doi:10.1017/S0020743814000142. S2CID 145396896.
19. ^ "Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq (OWFI) Founding Statement". Worker-communist Party of Iran. Retrieved August 21, 2011.
20. ^ Howard, Michael (26 November 2002). "Revenge spurs Kurdish women's army". The Guardian.
21. ^ Crenshaw, Carrie (July 1997). "Women in the Gulf War: Toward an intersectional feminist rhetorical cristicism". Howard Journal of Communications. 8 (3): 219–235\. doi:10.1080/10646179709361756.
22. ^ Sjoberg, Laura (2006). Gender, Justice, and the Wars in Iraq: A Feminist Reformulation of Just War Theory. Lexington Books. ISBN 978-0-7391-1610-4.[page needed]
23. ^ "Imperialist feminism and liberalism". openDemocracy.

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Gulf War

* Conflict timeline
* Disarmament timeline

Participants|

* Australia
* Women

Background|

* Iran–Iraq War
* Operation Simoom
* Ba'athist Iraq
* Petroleum industry in Iraq

Invasion of Kuwait|

* Battle of Dasman Palace
* Battle of the Bridges
* Battle of Failaka
* U.N. Resolution 660
* Arab League summit
* August 12 Initiative

Coalition intervention|

* U.N. Resolution 661
* Coalition
* Iraq–United States relations
* Carter Doctrine
* Military equipment

Battles|

* Khafji
* Wadi al-Batin
* Al Busayyah
* 67 Easting
* 73 Easting
* Phase Line Bullet
* Medina Ridge
* 2nd Kuwait
* Highway of Death
* Jalibah
* Norfolk
* Kuwait International Airport
* Rumaila
* Safwan

Air campaign|

* Air engagements
* "Package Q" air strike
* Operation Instant Thunder
* Operation Senior Surprise
* Amiriyah shelter bombing
* Samurra

Impact on Israel|

* Iraq–Israel relations
* Iraqi rocket attacks on Israel

Aftermath|

* Operation Southern Watch
* Iraq sanctions
* Kuwaiti oil fires
* 1991 uprisings
* Draining of the marshes
* Gulf War oil spill
* Depleted uranium
* Gulf War syndrome
* Awards
* Operation Provide Comfort
* Iraq–Kuwait barrier

Memorials|

* London

Military technology|

* History of the M1 Abrams
* Lion of Babylon (tank)

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