Female combatants and rebel group behaviour: Evidence from Nepal

Recent research examines when and why women join rebel groups as combatants. However, we are only beginning to understand how their presence affects group behaviour conflict dynamics more generally. I address this gap by analysing women's participation influences two dimensions of behaviour: relationship civilians fighting performance. argue that a greater number female rebels decreases civilian victimization, but also reduces combat test these propositions using time-varying district-level data from the Nepalese civil war. The results support both expectations. These findings increase our understanding effects in