Histories of world conflicts often primarily feature men because they are traditionally seen as the major players in such events, yet women have played major roles as politicians, soldiers, medical professionals, and caretakers during past conflicts and continue to do so.
Test your knowledge of women's roles in contemporary conflicts in this quiz, and then answer one essential question for critical thinking.
Learning Activity & Quiz
March is National Women's History Month. Take the following quiz to see how much you know about the various roles women have played in conflicts from Afghanistan to Northern Ireland. Find the correct answers by consulting World Conflicts Today reports. The answer key is located at the end of this activity.
After the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan in the late 1990s, which object of clothing did they require women to wear?
(a) Dresses (b) Burkas (c) Pants (d) Abayas
Tens of thousands of women and girls have been raped by janjaweed fighters in which region?
(a) Darfur (b) Palestinian Territories (c) Helmand province (d) Chechnya
Which term is used to describe female Chechen suicide bombers, many of whose husbands were killed by Russian forces?
(a) "Femibombers" (b) "Widow bombers" (c) "Grieving widows" (d) "Black widows"
In October 2009, Israel released 20 imprisoned Palestinian women in exchange for who/what?
(a) Video proof that an Israeli soldier captured over three years prior was alive and well (b) Three Israeli soldiers captured nearly two years earlier (c) A pledge from Hamas to stop sending rocket fire into Israel (d) Intelligence on groups involved in weapons smuggling between Egypt and the Gaza Strip
UN employee Lubna Hussein was arrested in Khartoum, Sudan, with 12 other women in July 2009 for which crime?
(a) Participating in an anti-government demonstration (b) Appearing in public without male companions (c) Wearing pants (d) Failing to secure proper employment licenses
In the 1970s, supporters of Afghan mujahideen leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar reportedly threw which substance in the faces of unveiled Muslim women?
(a) Hot water (b) Acid (c) Oil (d) Fermented camel's milk
Hillary Clinton currently holds which position in the Obama administration?
(a) Secretary of State (b) Secretary of Defense (c) UN Ambassador (d) National Security Advisor
In 1989, 300 Russian women whose sons were serving in the Russian military (and who opposed the Chechen war from the outset) founded which group?
(a) Army Mothers Against Violence (AMAV) (b) National Organization of Soldier's Mothers (NOSM) (c) Committee of Soldiers' Mothers of Russia (CSMR) (d) United Mothers of Russian Soldiers (UMRS)
With few exceptions, young Israeli women (and men) must serve for two to three years in which government body?
(a) The Israeli Volunteers Corp (b) The Israeli Kibbutz Program (c) The Israeli Defense Force (d) The Israeli Lands Agency
Which Islamic women's group was formed in 1987 in Kashmir Valley that supports mandatory wearing of the burka?
(a) Daughters of the Faith (b) Muslim Women's League (c) The Believing Women's Association (d) The Islamic Sisterhood
Margaret Thatcher held which position when she revoked political status to hunger strikers in Northern Ireland?
(a) Prime Minister of Ireland (b) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (c) Prime minister of Northern Ireland (d) Queen of England
Which group indefinitely banned education for girls as part of the imposition of Sharia law in Afghanistan?
(a) al-Qa'ida (b) The Taliban (c) The mujahideen (d) Hezb-i-Islami
In an October 2000 meeting, U.S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright was surprised to find the leader of which reclusive country reasonable, attentive, and even humorous?
(a) Iran (b) Syria (c) North Korea (d) Myanmar
Which political party was formed in 1996 out of frustration at the lack of representation of women in Northern Ireland?
(a) Northern Ireland Women's Coalition (NIWC) (b) Women's Committee of Northern Ireland (WCNI) (c) Alliance of Northern Ireland women (ANIW) (d) Northern Ireland Sisterhood (NIS)
Which National Security Advisor said before the invasion of Iraq, "We don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud"?
(a) Hillary Clinton (b) Dianne Feinstein (c) Madeline Albright (d) Condoleezza Rice
In September 2006, the wives and girlfriends of gangsters in the Colombian town of Pereira withheld what during the "strike of the crossed legs" to get their partners to give up violence?
(a) Cooked meals (b) Affection (c) Dates (d) Sex
Now answer the following essential question for critical thinking: The following two images of Kabuli women were taken almost exactly five years apart—the first, just weeks after the Taliban captured Kabul in 1996, and the second, just days after the Taliban fled Kabul in 2001.
How could these images, either separately or together, be used to make a statement about human rights?
