The Women’s Activities in Armed Rebellion (WAAR) Project is a multi-methods research project. The WAAR Project dataset measures reports of women’s participation in more than 370 rebel organizations between 1946-2015.
The dataset features 22 measures of women’s participation in rebel organizations, including presence and prevalence measures across non-combat, combat, and leadership roles and disaggregated measures of participation types.
The WAAR Project Handbook offers contextual, qualitative assessments of women’s involvement in each organization. The (open access) article introducing the data, published in The Journal of Peace Research, is available here.
Update April 2026
In partnership with the UN Complex Research Analytics Fund (CRAFd) and PRIO, we are currently working on the WAAR Project 2.0 data expansion. The expansion will include an updated WAAR Dataset covering nearly 700 armed groups operating 1945-2024; a sub-dataset specifically focused on characteristics and activities of women’s wings; an expanded qualitative handbook, and a user guide for policymakers focused on two cases where gendered attention to armed conflict is actively needed: Myanmar and Ethiopia. We plan for the WAAR 2.0 data release in 2027.