Prof. Changwook Ju

Tulane University

Bio

Changwook Ju is an Assistant Professor of International Relations in the Department of Political Science at Tulane University. He earned his Ph.D. in Political Science from Yale University in 2024. His research has been published in the American Journal of Political Science, Foreign Policy Analysis, International Studies Quarterly, International Studies Review, and the Journal of Conflict Resolution. Changwook served in the Republic of Korea Marine Corps from 2011 to 2013, attaining the rank of sergeant.

Gender Under Attack: Gender Equality and Rebel Sexual Violence

Abstract

A puzzle cuts across civil conflicts: greater state-level gender equality coincides with heightened sexual violence (SV) against civilians. What explains this troubling pattern? I argue that rebel groups perpetrate more SV against noncombatants under higher state-level gender equality to reassert gendered hierarchies they perceive as disrupted by ostensible societal change. I substantiate this argument using large-N analyses and illustrations from post-invasion Iraq and other contexts.