Why women conscientious objectors?
The question of why women declare themselves conscientious objectors when they are not subject to conscription is central to the anthology. We think that the answer lies both within the women’s own organisations, their effort to confront militarism, and their understanding of the wider society they are part of. The stories indicates that it is women in mixed peace groups who primarily declare themselves conscientious objectors, not women who are active in women-only organisations. They choose other ways than conscientious objection to express their resistance to militarism. The women in mixed groups have had a need to find their own place as women, based on their understanding of militarism and their experiences as women. A declaration as a conscientious objector became one of the answers. WRI was mostly based on men’s conscientious objection and total resistance. Women wanted to be part of the peace movement in their own right. From this ground women in WRI declared themselves as tota
