Gendered Political Violence in Transitional Moments: The Cases of Bangladesh and Iran

Abstract

Women’s rights advocates and movements play an important role during political transitions, shaping feminist outcomes following these transitions. Women are also often at the forefront of many pro-democratic mobilizations and struggles for political change (Baldez 2002; Goetz 2009; Viterna and Fallon 2008; Waylen 2007; 2011). Yet this participation is not without costs, and one core cost remains undertheorized in the literature: targeted violence against women precisely because of their gender and political engagement.