Ethnic/Communal Wars

Citation:

McDowell, Sara. 2008. “Commemorating Dead ‘Men’: Gendering the Past and Present in Post-conflict Northern Ireland.” Gender, Place and Culture 15 (4): 335-54.

Author: Sara McDowell

Abstract:

War is instrumental in shaping and negotiating gender identities. But what role does peace play in dispelling or affirming the gender order in post-conflict contexts? Building on a burgeoning international literature on representative landscapes and based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Northern Ireland between 2003 and 2006, this article explores the peacetime commemoration of the Northern Ireland ‘Troubles’ in order to explore the nuances of gender. Tellingly, the memorial landscapes cultivated since the inception of the paramilitary ceasefires in 1994 privilege male interpretations of the past (and, therefore, present). Gender parity, despite being enshrined within the 1998 Belfast Agreement which sought to draw a line under almost three decades of ethno-nationalist violence, remains an elusive utopia, as memorials continue to propagate specific roles for men and women in the ‘national project’. As the masculine ideologies of Irish Nationalism/Republicanism and British Unionism/Loyalism inscribe their respective disputant pasts into the streetscape, the narratives of women have been blurred and disrupted, begging the question: what role can they play in the future?

Keywords: Northern Ireland, Gender, conflict, commemoration, nationalism

Topics: Armed Conflict, Ethnic/Communal Wars, Ethnicity, Gender, Women, Men, Gender Roles, Gender Equality/Inequality, Nationalism, Post-Conflict, Post-Conflict Reconstruction Regions: Europe, Northern Europe Countries: United Kingdom

Year: 2008

Citation:

Zraly, Maggie, and Laetitia Nyirazinyoye. 2010. “Don’t Let the Suffering Make You Fade Away: An Ethnographic Study of Resilience among Survivors of Genocide-Rape in Southern Rwanda.” Social Science & Medicine 70 (10): 1656–64.

Authors: Maggie Zraly, Laetitia Nyirazinyoye

Abstract:

Rape has been used in contemporary armed conflicts to inflict physical, psychological, cultural and social damage. In endeavoring to address the psychological damage of collective violence, some researchers and global health practitioners are turning toward post-conflict mental health promotion approaches that centrally feature resilience. Though previous findings from resilience and coping research are robust, few studies have actually investigated resilience among genocide-rape survivors in cultural context in non-Western settings. This paper presents ethnographic data gathered over 14 months (September 2005 to November 2006) in southern Rwanda on resilience among genocide-rape survivors who were members of two women's genocide survivor associations. Study methods included a content analysis of a stratified purposive sample of 44 semi-structured interviews, as well as participant-, and non-participant-observation. Resilience among genocide-rape survivors in this context was found to be shaped by the cultural-linguistic specific concepts of kwihangana (withstanding), kwongera kubaho (living again), and gukomeza ubuzima (continuing life/health), and comprised of multiple sociocultural processes that enabled ongoing social connection with like others in order to make meaning, establish normalcy, and endure suffering in daily life. The results of this research show that the process of resilience among genocide-rape survivors was the same regardless of whether genocide survivor association membership was organized around the identity of genocide-rape survivorship or the identity of widowhood. However, the genocide-rape survivors' association members were more involved with directing resilience specifically toward addressing problems associated with genocide-rape compared to the members of the genocide widows' association. The findings from this research suggest that ethnographic methods can be employed to support resilience-based post-conflict mental health promotion efforts through facilitating collective sexual violence survivors to safely socially connect around their shared experiences of rape, neutralizing social threats of stigma and marginalization.

Topics: Armed Conflict, Ethnic/Communal Wars, Civil Society, Gender, Women, Genocide, Health, Mental Health, Trauma, Sexual Violence, Rape Regions: Africa, Central Africa, East Africa Countries: Rwanda

Year: 2010

Citation:

Aydelott, Danise. 1993. “Mass Rape During War: Prosecuting Bosnian Rapists Under International Law.” Emory International Law Review 7: 585-631.

Author: Danise Aydelott

Abstract:

The author reviews the history of mass rape during war and the international legal provisions that can be invoked to punish the perpetrators. Part I evaluates the historical acceptance of rape as a by-product of war. Part II discusses mass rape as a weapon of genocide in Bosnia. Part III evaluates existing methods of international law that can be used to punish the violators. Part IV describes the statute of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) designed to prosecute Balkan criminals. Part V examines the reasons why the situation in Bosnia provides a particularly strong case for prosecuting rape as a war crime. Part VI concludes that existing substantive international law is sufficient to punish the perpetrators, and comments on the need to address procedural problems inherent in punishing rapists as war criminals, rather than pushing to have rape declared a "war crime."

Topics: Armed Conflict, Ethnic/Communal Wars, Gender, Women, Gender-Based Violence, Genocide, International Law, International Criminal Law, Justice, International Tribunals & Special Courts, Sexual Violence, Rape Regions: Europe, Balkans, Eastern Europe Countries: Bosnia & Herzegovina, Yugoslavia (former)

Year: 1993

Citation:

Helms, Elissa. 2003. “The ‘Nation-ing’ of Gender?  Donor Policies, Islam and Women’s NGOs in Post-War Bosnia- Herzegovina.” Anthropology of East Europe Review 21 (2): 85–92.

Author: Elissa Helms

Topics: Armed Conflict, Ethnic/Communal Wars, Ethnicity, Gender, Women, Gendered Discourses, International Organizations, Nationalism, NGOs, Post-Conflict, Religion Regions: Europe, Balkans, Eastern Europe Countries: Bosnia & Herzegovina

Year: 2003

Citation:

Lane, Sandra D., and Robert A. Rubinstein. 2003. “Population, Identity, and Political Violence.” Social Justice: Anthropology, Peace and Human Rights 3 (3-4): 140-52.

Authors: Sandra D. Lane, Robert A. Rubinstein

Topics: Armed Conflict, Ethnic/Communal Wars, Ethnicity, Gender, Women, Political Participation, Violence

Year: 2003

Citation:

Wagner, Justin. 2005. “The Systematic Use of Rape as a Tool of War in Darfur: A Blueprint for International War Crimes Prosecutions.” Georgetown Journal of International Law 37 (1): 193–243.

Author: Justin Wagner

Topics: Armed Conflict, Ethnic/Communal Wars, Gender, Women, International Law, International Criminal Law, Justice, War Crimes, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militaries, Militias, Sexual Violence, Rape, SV against Women Regions: Africa, East Africa Countries: Sudan

Year: 2005

Citation:

Chesterman, Simon. 1997. “Never Again ... and Again: Law, Order, and the Gender of War Crimes in Bosnia and Beyond.” Yale Journal of International Law 22: 299–343.

Author: Simon Chesterman

Topics: Armed Conflict, Ethnic/Communal Wars, Gender, International Law, International Criminal Law, Justice, War Crimes, Sexual Violence, Rape Regions: Europe, Balkans, Eastern Europe Countries: Bosnia & Herzegovina

Year: 1997

Citation:

Mullins, Christopher W. 2009. “‘We Are Going to Rape You and Taste Tutsi Women.’” The British Journal of Criminology 49 (6): 719-35.

Author: Christopher W. Mullins

Abstract:

Over the past decades, scholars have paid greater attention to sexual violence, in both theorization and empirical analysis. One area that has been largely ignored, however, is sexual violence during times of armed conflict. This paper examines the nature and dynamics of sexual violence as it occurred during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Drawing upon testimonies given to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), descriptions of rapes-both singular and mass-were qualitatively analysed. In general, three broad types of assaults were identified: opportunistic assaults, which seemed to be a product of the disorder inherent within the conflict; episodes of sexual enslavement; and genocidal rapes, which were framed by the broader genocidal endeavours occurring at the time.

Topics: Armed Conflict, Ethnic/Communal Wars, Genocide, Sexual Violence, Rape Regions: Africa, Central Africa, East Africa Countries: Rwanda

Year: 2009

Citation:

Scheffler, Sabine, and Agnes Müchele. 1999. “War, Life Crisis and Trauma: Assessing the Impact of a Woman-Centered Training Program in Bosnia.” Women & Therapy 22 (1): 121-38.

Authors: Sabine Scheffler, Agnes Müchele

Abstract:

This article presents a woman-centered approach to healing that is necessitated by trauma inflicted by armed conflict. The authors present a historical context within which they depict many of the daily consequences that citizens experienced. A training program was developed during a trip to Bosnia in which sixteen women, among whom were social workers, psychologists, physicians, teachers and one Islamic theologian, participated. This program was comprised of five training modules: introduction to basic concepts and issues, the social psychology of war, the counseling process and techniques, social work in a wartime environment, and termination.

Topics: Armed Conflict, Ethnic/Communal Wars, Gender, Women, Health, Trauma Regions: Europe, Balkans, Eastern Europe Countries: Bosnia & Herzegovina

Year: 1999

Citation:

Oh, Su-Ann, and Marc van der Stouwe. 2008. “Education, Diversity, and Inclusion in Burmese Refugee Camps in Thailand.” Comparative Education Review 52 (4): 589–617.

Authors: Su-Ann Oh, Marc van der Stouwe

Topics: Armed Conflict, Ethnic/Communal Wars, Displacement & Migration, Refugees, Refugee/IDP Camps, Education, Gender, Women, Nationalism, NGOs Regions: Asia, Southeast Asia Countries: Myanmar, Thailand

Year: 2008