Innocent women and children

"This study examines the influence of gender constructs on the international regime protecting war-affected civilians. Although international law nominally protects all civilians, Carpenter argues that belligerents, human rights advocates and humanitarian players interpret civilian immunity so as to leave adult civilian men and older boys at grave risk in conflict zones. This ground-breaking study demonstrates how gender assumptions shape international politics, and develops a framework for incorporating gender into the often gender-blind scholarship on international norms. As such this book will be of interest both to international relations theorists and to human rights scholars, students and activists."--Jacket.