Forgotten Wars, Invisible Women

Abstract: In any conflict, women are overlooked. In forgotten conflicts, women become invisible. Yet women serve as active agents in conflict response, resolution, and recovery around the world. This study examines how conflict reporting by three major news outlets portrays women in the forgotten wars of Cameroon, Haiti, Sudan, and Yemen. Drawing on a content analysis of 992 articles, we find that only 4-8% of conflict coverage mentions women, and most of these references portray women as passive victims rather than active agents in conflict response or peacebuilding. This skewed media portrayal not only distorts the public's understanding of these conflicts but also undermines the visibility of women's political and humanitarian leadership. We argue that such media representation is at odds with the many success stories of women in peacebuilding and call for improved coverage of women's roles within forgotten wars.