Civil War, Reintegration, and Gender in Northern Uganda

What are the impacts of war on the participants, and do they vary by gender? Are excombatants damaged pariahs who threaten social stability, as some fear? Existing theory and evidence are inconclusive and focus on males. New data and a tragic natural experiment in Uganda allow us to estimate the impacts of war on both females and males, and assess how war experiences affect reintegration success. As expected, violence drives social and psychological problems, especially among females. Unexpectedly, however, most women returning from armed groups reintegrate socially and are psychologically resilient. Partly for this reason, post-conflict hostility is low. Theories that war conditions youth into violence find little support. Finally, the findings confirm a human capital view of recruitment: economic gaps are driven by time away from civilian education and labor markets. Unlike males, however, females have few civilian opportunities and so they see little adverse economic impact of recruitment.