War is integrally tied to national narratives of
shared suffering and, at times, shared victory and
liberation. It is not surprising, therefore that war, as the
key force behind the creation and destruction of states,
is central to gender differentiation within nations and
states. One of the most pervasive symbols of war is
that of ‘womenandchildren’ (Enloe, 1993, p. 166). It
persists, in part, when a clear separation exists between
the battlefront and the home front, facilitating the sexual
division of labour (Yuval-Davis, 1985).