Other than compiling my formal proposal I have been trying to get thru 'A Dirty War" by Anna Politkovskaya in its entirety. It is a compilation of reports she made during the leading up to and during the second Chechen war. She was actually murdered earlier this month, which was sad to hear because as a Russian writer she is incredibly objective, critical and thorough in her reporting (which is why she was murdered perhaps).

Not only does she report on various peace efforts that (mostly Russian) women are partaking in, she herself is an example of the coourageous steps women have taken in this conflict to rebuild life during and after war.

Key points I have taken up so far from AP's book:

An organised body of Russian women, the Committee of Soldiers' Mothers is basically a lobby group advocating for soliders' rights. Conscripts as young as 18 are forced to leave home to train for war. They are promised they will only be sent to conflict zones on a voluntary basis, and instead woken up at 2 am after a night of heavy drinking and dragged to conflict zones in Daghestan and Chechnya. After fighting a war they never signed up for, soldiers that survive often shoulder serious injuries, paralyzation etc only to find out that the government has made no provisions for those who need to be taken care of as a result of combat.

These sort of injustices have led to the formation of this committee, however the military holds a much higher proportion of power that pervades many Russian state departments (even ones that are supposedly civilian such as the Ministry of Justice).

Russian mothers have actually kidnapped their sons from various military training bases after hearing of the widespread military deception their sons undergo.

On the Chechen side, many Chechen men in Russia were imprisoned arbitrarily as they were all cast as criminals by the State and the cooperating media outlets. In Chechnya itself, many of the men were captured as every Chechen man was seen as a potential 'terrorist', leaving the women as the primary members of society to rebuild (homes in Gorzny for example)