More than just headlines: A global statistical analysis of murdered women environmental defenders

Abstract

Abstract This study contributes empirical data tracking gender in extractive violence cases from the Environmental Justice Atlas (EJAtlas). The study also fills a gap in coverage on environmental assassinations not considering other factors of violence leading up to murders. Through log-linear and binominal regressions, this study analyzes gendered distributions of displacement, repression, criminalization, violent targeting, and murders worldwide. We found that 1) violence against women defenders is concentrated among mining, agribusiness, and industrial conflicts in the geographical South; 2) repression, criminalization, and violent targeting typically appeared together, whereas displacement and murder appeared as extreme outcomes when conflict violence worsened; 3) women defenders experience high rates of violence regardless of their countries’ levels of rule of law and gender equality. Reflecting global patterns of impunity, nearly all of the women defenders’ murders are still unresolved in courts, and their conflicts are still under negotiation.