When Gender Matters: Public Opinion and International Support for Female Combatants and Armed Groups

Date: Friday, April 24, 2026
Time: 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM (EST)
Location: Virtual via Zoom Webinar

The Canadian International Council’s Toronto Branch is delighted to invite you for a discussion on how gender shapes international perceptions and foreign support for armed movements, drawing on the latest research by Çağlayan Başer, published by Cambridge University Press.

The discussion examines the strategic role of female combatants in rebel organizations and how their presence influences foreign public opinion and state sponsorship. Using original survey experiments from the United States and Tunisia, alongside cross-national data, the book shows that armed groups with female fighters are often perceived as more democratic, gender-equal, and morally legitimate—and as less likely to harm civilians—despite their involvement in political violence.

By highlighting gender composition as a key factor in external support for armed conflicts, the event will contribute to broader debates on rebel legitimacy, humanitarian aid, the gender–peace nexus, and the power of gender stereotypes in global politics.

To register, please follow this link.

About the Speaker
Çağlayan Başer is an Assistant Professor of International Relations at Bilkent University in Ankara. Previously, she was an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Public Affairs and Citizenship. Prior to joining Syracuse, she also taught at New York University Abu Dhabi, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and at Loyola University. She received her Ph.D. in Political Science from Loyola University Chicago, specializing in International Relations and Comparative Politics. She researches the links between international and domestic politics via social norms and ideologies. She investigates these dynamics within the realms of gender politics, international organizations, and conflict.

About the Moderator
Merve Erdilmen is a FRQSC postdoctoral researcher at the Centre d’études et de recherches internationales (CÉRIUM) at Université de Montréal, and the Refugee Studies Center (RSC), University of Oxford. She is also a research fellow with the McGill Refugee Research Group at McGill University. Merve conducted research in Turkey, Lebanon, Germany, Tanzania, and Canada. She have also worked in various humanitarian non-governmental organizations and international organizations as a volunteer, researcher, protection officer, and consultant in Turkey, Portugal, Italy, and Tanzania. Merve earned her Ph.D. in Political Science with Gender Studies Specialization at McGill University.