During the civil war in Sierra Leone women and girls filled the role of combatants, ‘bush wives’, child soldiers, and sexual slaves. As a result of these roles, women are often described as having dual identities of both perpetrators and victims of violence. This duality resulted in the complex question of how to help these women both reintegrate into society and also address the crimes which they are alleged to have committed during the war. The author argues that these women and girls should be treated as victims due to the fact that their crimes were committed under coercion.