Civil Wars

Citation:

Authors: Regina Scheyvens, Leonard Lagisa

Abstract:

There are many arguments supporting the need for a reduction of large scale logging and mining activities in Pacific Island countries. In addition to ecological and economic concerns, logging and mining have had significant social impacts, including gendered impacts. Women tend to be excluded from decision-making processes, and they have limited access to royalty payments and business and employment opportunities which emerge. Women also bear a disproportionate share of the responsibility for dealing with the social and environmental mess which accumulates. However, women are not simply passive victims of logging and mining activities, as this discussion of the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea will argue. They are often the first to feel dissatisfaction with logging and mining and it is such dissatisfaction which has fuelled civil unrest, from family break-ups to sabotage of machinery to civil war, in some communities. It may thus be useful for companies to more carefully monitor the effects of their activities on women and involve women more actively in decision-making bodies if they wish to avoid such unrest in the future.

Topics: Armed Conflict, Civil Wars, Environment, Extractive Industries, Gender, Women, Gender Mainstreaming Regions: Oceania Countries: Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands

Year: 1998

Citation:

Giraldo, Saridalia. 2012. “Demobilized Women Combatants: Lessons from Colombia.” Paper presented at the Thinking Gender Conference, UCLA Center for the Study of Women, Los Angeles, February 3.

Author: Saridalia Giraldo

Abstract:

In Colombia, a country with one of the longest civil wars in the world, women combatants return to civil society in the midst of ongoing tension. In this transition, women suffer triple difficulties: the reaction of their home communities; hostility from armed illegal groups still engaged in conflict, and disregarding from the government itself. What accounts for these obstacles? First, in a patriarchal society such as Colombia, demobilized women face the denigration of their community which views women’s participation in armed conflict as an infringement on traditional female roles. Second, in the midst of continued conflict, demobilized women are also in danger of being rerecruited, tortured, killed or displaced from their home towns by their former peers in combat who perceive them as traitors, or by active criminal groups who consider them as enemies. Third, public policy designed to demobilize and reintegrate combatants gives little attention to women´s special needs as victims of gender violence. Recognizing that women and their needs remain invisible, this paper proposes that formal and informal post-conflict measures in Colombia must be gendersensitized in order to effectively reintegrate women and men into civilian life.
 

Keywords: women combatants, demobilization, reintegration, DDR, peace-building, Colombia, civil war, guerrillas, FARC, sexual violence

Topics: Armed Conflict, Civil Wars, Combatants, Female Combatants, DDR, Gender, Gender Roles, Gender-Based Violence, Peacebuilding, Post-Conflict, Post-Conflict Reconstruction, Sexual Violence, Violence, Weapons /Arms Regions: Americas, South America Countries: Colombia

Year: 2012

Citation:

Moore, Melinda W., and John R. Barner. 2017. “Sexual Minorities in Conflict Zones: A Review of the Literature.” Aggression and Violent Behavior 35: 33-37.

Authors: Melinda W. Moore, John R. Barner

Abstract:

In civil and ethnic conflict, sexual minorities experience a heightened risk for war crimes such as sexual violence, torture, and death. As a result, sexual minorities remain an invisible population in armed conflict out of a need for safety. Further study of sexual minorities in conflict zones confronts matters of human rights, war crimes, and the psychosocial effects of war. This article reviews the existing research on sexual minorities in conflict zones, examines the findings on human rights, war crimes, and the psychosocial effects of war and violence on sexual minority populations, and reviews the barriers to effectiveness faced by intervention programs developed spe- cifically to aid post-conflict societies. The article concludes with a summary of findings within the literature and further considerations for research on aggression and violent behavior with sexual minority groups in conflict zones.

Keywords: violence, aggression, Sexual minorities, Gender, war, armed conflict, human rights

Topics: Armed Conflict, Civil Wars, Ethnic/Communal Wars, Gender, Masculinity/ies, Gender-Based Violence, International Law, International Human Rights, Justice, War Crimes, LGBTQ, Rights, Human Rights, Sexual Violence, SV against Men, SV against Women, Torture, Sexual Torture, Violence

Year: 2017

Citation:

Hogan, Erin K. 2016. “Queering Post-War Childhood: Pa Negre.” Hispanic Research Journal 17 (1): 1–18.

Author: Erin K. Hogan

Abstract:

Keywords: Pa negre, Villaronga, Teixidor, queer, new cine con niño

Topics: Age, Armed Conflict, Civil Wars, LGBTQ, Post-Conflict Regions: Europe, Southern Europe Countries: Spain

Year: 2016

Citation:

Mulumba, Deborah. 2005. Gender Relations, Livelihood Security and Reproductive Health Among Women Refugees in Uganda: The Case of Sudanese Women in Rhino Camp and Kiryandongo Refugee Settlements. PhD thesis, Wageningen University.

Author: Deborah Mulumba

Abstract:

Armed conflict and civil wars are the main cause of refugees in the Great Lakes Region of Eastern Africa. Forced migration into alien refugee settings exacerbates gender inequalities and increases the vulnerability of women and girls. The main objective of the study was to gain a deeper understanding of gender relations, livelihood security and reproductive health among refugees in Uganda with a particular focus on women. The research design was descriptive and exploratory in nature and the methodology was primarily qualitative. The main findings were that refugee policies and gender relations have an immense influence on human reproduction, reproductive health and livelihood security. Although UNHCR has formulated gender sensitive policies, their implementation in rural settlements remains gender neutral. In addition, the strategic needs of women refugees are not catered for. The study concludes that there is a discrepancy between the international and national policies and what is on the ground. (ResearchGate)

Annotation:

Table of Contents:

1. Background and Rationale for the Study
2. Theoretical and Conceptual Perspectives
3. Research Questions and Methodology
4. The History and Management of Refugees and Displacement in Uganda
5. The International and National Health Policies
6. Ministries, Organizations and Programmes Dealing in Reproductive Health Issues
7. The Study Area and ‘Host Environment’
8. Gender Relations, Livelihood Security and Reproductive Health: Discussion of Findings and Experiences from Rhino Camp Refugee Settlement 
9. Gender Relations, Livelihood Security and Reproductive Health: Discussion of Findings and Experiences from Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement
10. Conclusions

Topics: Armed Conflict, Civil Wars, Displacement & Migration, Forced Migration, Refugees, Refugee/IDP Camps, Gender, Women, Girls, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Health, Reproductive Health, International Organizations, Livelihoods, Security Regions: Africa, East Africa Countries: Sudan, Uganda

Year: 2005

Citation:

Haugbolle, Sune. 2012. “The (Little) Militia Man: Memory and Militarized Masculinity in Lebanon.” Journal of Middle East Women’s Studies 8 (1): 115–39.

Author: Sune Haugbolle

Abstract:

This article discusses how militiamen who fought in the Lebanese civil war (1975-1990) have been represented in Lebanese cultural production and how these militiamen relate to public discourse on masculinity and culpability in the postwar period. Through an analysis of interviews with former militiamen from the Lebanese press, an autobiographical novel, and a play about the war, this paper examines the link between debates about memory and responsibility on one hand, and contentions over norms of masculine behavior on the other. The texts suggest that some Lebanese artists privilege a redemptive narrative, where former fighters are shown as regretful, even feminized, “little men” on par with other human victims of a senseless war. This narrative is meant to counter the widely held notion in Lebanon that militiamen bear a large part of the responsibility for the war. At the same time, this redemptive narrative seeks to sever the link between masculinity and sectarian cultures that, still today, celebrate violence committed during the civil war.

Topics: Armed Conflict, Civil Wars, Gender, Masculinity/ies, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militias, Post-Conflict, Violence Regions: Africa, MENA, Asia, Middle East Countries: Lebanon

Year: 2012

Citation:

Winegar, Jessica. 2012. “The Privilege of Revolution: Gender, Class, Space, and Affect in Egypt.” American Ethnologist 39 (1): 67–70.

Author: Jessica Winegar

Abstract:

In this commentary, I challenge assumptions about political transformation by contrasting women's experiences at home during the Egyptian revolution with the image of the iconic male revolutionary in Tahrir Square. I call attention to the way that revolution is experienced and undertaken in domestic spaces, through different forms of affect, in ways deeply inflected by gender and class.

Keywords: Egypt, revolution, Gender, class, space, affect, generation

Topics: Armed Conflict, Civil Wars, Class, Gender, Women, Men, Gender Roles, Households Regions: Africa, MENA, North Africa, Asia, Middle East Countries: Egypt

Year: 2012

Citation:

de Regt, Marina. 2008. “Triple Tensions: Somali Refugee Women in Yemen.” Al-Raida (120-121): 45–52.

Author: Marina de Regt

Topics: Armed Conflict, Civil Wars, Displacement & Migration, Refugees, Gender, Women, Gender Roles Regions: Africa, MENA, East Africa, Asia, Middle East Countries: Somalia, Yemen

Year: 2008

Citation:

Schaal, Susanne, Roland Weierstall, Jean-Pierre Dusingizemungu, and Thomas Elbert. 2012. “Mental Health 15 Years after the Killings in Rwanda: Imprisoned Perpetrators of the Genocide against the Tutsi versus a Community Sample of Survivors.” Journal of Traumatic Stress 25 (4): 446–53. doi:10.1002/jts.21728.

Authors: Susanne Schaal, Roland Weierstall, Jean-Pierre Dusingizemungu, Thomas Elbert

Abstract:

Objectives of this study were to compare rates of mental health disorders in Rwandan genocide perpetrators with those of genocide survivors and to investigate potential predictors of symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression for both groups. We expected high rates of mental disorders in both study groups and hypothesized that symptom severity would be predicted by female gender, older age, lower level of education, higher level of trauma exposure, lower level of agreement to reconciliation, and the participation in killing. Structured clinical interviews were carried out with 269 imprisoned perpetrators (66% men) and 114 survivors (64% women). Significantly more survivors than perpetrators met symptom criteria for PTSD (46% vs. 14%) and suffered from anxiety symptoms (59% vs. 36%). A substantial proportion of both groups suffered from clinically significant depression (46% vs. 41%). PTSD severity in perpetrators was associated with trauma exposure, high levels of agreement to reconciliation, and no participation in killing; the severity of depression was associated with trauma exposure and no participation in killing. In the survivor sample, the severity of PTSD and depression were both correlated with female gender, trauma exposure, and low levels of agreement to reconciliation. Results suggest that both groups exhibit considerable psychiatric morbidity.

Topics: Armed Conflict, Civil Wars, Gender, Women, Genocide, Health, Mental Health, PTSD, Trauma, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Violence Regions: Africa, Central Africa, East Africa Countries: Rwanda

Year: 2012

Citation:

Latif, Nadia. 2012. “‘it Was Better during the War’: Narratives of Everyday Violence in a Palestinian Refugee Camp.” Feminist Review 101 (1): 24–40. doi:10.1057/fr.2011.55.

Author: Nadia Latif

Abstract:

The distinction between what is commonly regarded as the routine of impoverishment and what is acknowledged and remarked upon as violence is increasingly being questioned in scholarship and public policy circles. Interrogating the distinction between routine and remarkable not only reveals the habits and relationships constituting everyday life as the site of violence, but also foregrounds questions of gender. Given that the everyday is shaped by a given community's norms regarding the gendered division of labour that produces and reproduces the conditions of the everyday, in what ways is violence as well as its experience gendered? This article examines this question in the particular context of Palestinian camp refugees’ lived experience of forced displacement in Lebanon. It explores the ways in which the violence used against Palestinian camp refugees draws on norms regarding masculinity and femininity shared by the refugees as well as their Lebanese oppressors. It also examines the ways in which Palestinian camp refugees’ everyday experience of impoverishment as well as the acknowledged violence of forced displacement, subjection to Lebanese military intelligence control, and participation in the armed struggle for national liberation are constituted by and constitutive of unequal subject positions of gender, class and citizenship.

Keywords: Palestinian refugees, Palestinian refugee camps, Gender, violence, Lebanese civil war, the everyday

Topics: Armed Conflict, Civil Wars, Citizenship, Class, Displacement & Migration, Refugees, Refugee/IDP Camps, Gender, Masculinity/ies, Femininity/ies Regions: MENA, Asia, Middle East Countries: Lebanon, Palestine / Occupied Palestinian Territories

Year: 2012