Women in the Rhino Poaching Conflict: A Feminist Political Ecology Analysis

This chapter uses a feminist political ecology (FPE) approach to explore how local gender relations and gendered political economies intersect with rhino poaching to shape women’s role in the poaching economy, their victimization from poaching and militarized responses, and their role as positive agents of change in addressing the poaching conflict’s harms. An FPE approach contributes to understanding about poaching economies that can help develop more locally responsive, socially just, and environmentally sustainable approaches. The chapter offers novel insights with diverse implications for understanding the drivers of poaching, its impacts, and those of militarized anti-poaching responses.