Meanings
- uncountableHumanitarian language used as a justification to go to war.
To this end, prominent feminist international relations scholar, Cynthia Enloe coined the phrase 'womenandchildren' to highlight this, now almost inseparable, association.
2022 March 15, Hannah Ross, “'Womenandchildren': A Gendered Perspective on the Ukraine Crisis”, in The Courier, archived from the original on 25 Sep 20252 more examples
Before the first Gulf War, anti-militarist academic Cynthia Enloe coined the one-word phrase “womenandchildren”, which was a rallying cry at the time for US involvement in Iraq – and is now so again in Syria.
2013 October 2, Zillah Eisenstein, “The lie of ‘women and children’”, in Al Jazeera, archived from the original on 25 Mar 2025They argue that “the difference between violence against ‘womenandchildren’ or violence against men relies on a discursive framework to determine if deaths are mourned and condemned,” and seeks to legitimise violence against men, regardless of whether they are a civilian or combatant.
2021 June 10, Iona Cable, ““Women And Children”: The Role Of Innocence In Human Rights Reporting”, in Human Rights Pulse, archived from the original on 10 Jul 2024
Origin
From women + and + children, coined by Cynthia Enloe in 1990.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
womenandchildren. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/womenandchildren
“womenandchildren.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/womenandchildren. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “womenandchildren,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/womenandchildren.
Source: womenandchildren on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.