Transitional Justice

Confronting the Reality of Gender-based Violence in Northern Uganda

Citation:

Okello, Moses Chrispus, and Lucy Hovil. 2007. “Confronting the Reality of Gender-Based Violence in Northern Uganda.” International Journal of Transitional Justice 1 (3): 433–43. doi:10.1093/ijtj/ijm036.

Authors: Moses Chrispus Okello, Lucy Hovil

Abstract:

Two decades of conflict in northern Uganda have had a devastating impact on the lives of thousands of civilians. Like so many of today's ‘dirty wars,’ gender-related crimes have been pervasive. While numerous disciplines over the past century have developed sophisticated theories for understanding the nature and agency surrounding sexual offences, the nascent field of transitional justice is only just beginning to grapple with these issues or design appropriate measures of redress. This paper is based on research undertaken to look at issues of gender-based violence (GBV) in four camps for the internally displaced in northern Uganda in order to provide insight into the nature and prevalence of GBV within a specific context. The findings show that specific GBV dynamics need to be scrutinised within zones of conflict and taken into consideration in the policies adopted post-conflict. The paper both illuminates the nature of such abuses within the Ugandan context and points to the need for concerted attention to be paid to the pervasive gender dimensions of violence when designing transitional justice mechanisms.

Topics: Displacement & Migration, IDPs, Refugee/IDP Camps, Gender, Gender-Based Violence, Justice, Transitional Justice, Post-Conflict, Sexual Violence Regions: Africa, East Africa Countries: Uganda

Year: 2007

Women and Reparations

Citation:

Rubio-Marín, Ruth, and Pablo de Greiff. 2007. “Women and Reparations.” International Journal of Transitional Justice 1 (3): 318–37. doi:10.1093/ijtj/ijm035.

Authors: Ruth Rubio-Marín, Pablo de Greiff

Abstract:

Reparations for victims of gross human rights violations are becoming an increasingly acknowledged feature in post-authoritarian and post-conflict societies coping with the legacy of a violent past. Despite some recent progress much more work needs to be done for massive reparations programs to respond better to the needs of women. This article, resting as it does on a comprehensive conception of reparations, outlines both the procedural and substantive components of reparations programs necessary for the programs to fulfill the goal of providing (partial) justice to women.

Topics: Gender, Women, Justice, Reparations, Transitional Justice, Post-Conflict

Year: 2007

Towards Recognition of Subsistence Harms: Reassessing Approaches to Socioeconomic Forms of Violence in Transitional Justice

Citation:

Sankey, Diana. 2014. “Towards Recognition of Subsistence Harms: Reassessing Approaches to Socioeconomic Forms of Violence in Transitional Justice.” International Journal of Transitional Justice 8 (1): 121–40.

Author: Diana Sankey

Abstract:

Deprivations of subsistence needs, involving attacks on homes, livelihoods and basic resources, constitute a discreet and direct form of violence but remain marginalized within transitional justice. The article introduces the concept of ‘subsistence harms’ to name deprivations of the physical, mental and social needs of human subsistence, perpetrated with intent or with knowledge of the inevitable consequences of such deprivations. The concept seeks to promote more coherent and comprehensive recognition of these harms within transitional justice, as well as tighter categorization of harms related to socioeconomic concerns and a clearer understanding of the scope of transitional justice. As direct harms, subsistence harms can, and should, be comprehensively addressed by transitional justice mechanisms. Nevertheless, some realignment of thinking may be required to contest dominant concepts of violence and the limitations of the existing legal framework in order to enable the essence of these harms to be recognized.

Keywords: subsistence harms, socioeconomic rights, forced displacement, famine, prosecutions, truth commissions

Topics: Gender, Justice, Transitional Justice, Livelihoods, Post-Conflict, Violence

Year: 2014

Women in Post-Conflict Reconstruction: Dilemmas and Directions

Citation:

Cahn, Naomi. 2006. “Women in Post-Conflict Reconstruction: Dilemmas and Directions.” William & Mary Journal of Women and the Law 12 (2): 335.

 

Author: Naomi Cahn

Annotation:

INTRODUCTION

I. OVERVIEW OF POST CONFLICT TRANSITION

A. Problems in Establishing the Post Conflict Framework

B. Problems with Post Conflict Donor Aid and Special Needs of Women

II. DDR PROGRAMS

A. Deconstructing DDR Programs

B. Reconstructing DDR Programs

1. Redesigning DDR Programs with Gender Centrality

2. Reconceptualizing DDR

III. GENDERED LAWS

A. The Scope of the Problem

B. International Law and Violence Against Women

C. Additional Means of Justice

D. The Need for Domestic Reforms Regarding Women’s Rights and Status

1. Developing a Model Statute

2. Changing Existing Law

3. Implementation

a. Gender-Sensitive Support

b. Gender-Sensitive Policies within the Legal System '

4. What Difference Does It Make: Why Change Domestic Rape Laws?

E. Rape Laws and Gender Equity

CONCLUSION

Topics: DDR, Gender, Women, International Law, International Criminal Law, International Humanitarian Law (IHL), Justice, Transitional Justice, Post-Conflict, Post-Conflict Reconstruction, Sexual Violence, SV against Women

Year: 2006

Trying International Crimes on Local Lawns: The Adjudication of Genocide Sexual Violence Crimes in Rwanda's Gacaca Courts

Citation:

Amick, Emily. 2011. “Trying International Crimes on Local Lawns: The Adjudication of Genocide Sexual Violence Crimes in Rwanda’s Gacaca Courts.” Columbia Journal of Gender & Law 20 (2). http://cjgl.cdrs.columbia.edu/article/trying-international-crimes-on-local-lawns-the-adjudication-of-genocide-sexual-violence-crimes-in-rwandas-gacaca-courts/.

Author: Emily Amick

Abstract:

During the Rwandan genocide sexual violence was used as a weapon of war to ravage a people. Women were tortured psychologically, physically and emotionally. For some women the “dark carnival” of the genocide has not ended. Living side by sidewith the men who committed violence against them, they must confront their past every day. This Article explores how, post-genocide, the country has come to adjudicate these crimes in gacaca. Gacaca is a unique method of transitional justice, one that calls upon traditional roots, bringing community members together to find the truth of what happened during the genocide and punish those who perpetrated violence. One scholar calls gacaca, “one of the boldest and most original ‘legal-social’ experiments ever attempted in the field of transitional justice.” Others, however, criticize gacaca for the impunity it grants to crimes committed by the current ruling party, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), and its lack of due process and nonconformance to international fair trial processes. Most authors find that, for cases of sexual violence, gacaca is a wholly unsuitable forum.

Topics: Gender, Genocide, International Law, International Criminal Law, International Organizations, Justice, International Tribunals & Special Courts, Reparations, Transitional Justice, Post-Conflict, Sexual Violence, Male Perpetrators, SV against Women, Torture, Sexual Torture Regions: Africa, Central Africa, East Africa Countries: Rwanda

Year: 2011

Feminist Scholarship in Transitional Justice: A De-Politicising Impulse?

Citation:

O’Rourke, Catherine. 2015. “Feminist Scholarship in Transitional Justice: A De-Politicising Impulse?” Women’s Studies International Forum 51 (July): 118–27. doi:10.1016/j.wsif.2014.11.003.

 

Author: Catherine O'Rourke

Annotation:

Synopsis:
Gender and transitional justice is increasingly recognizable as a field of study in its own right. This essay identifies feminist scholarly priorities in transitional justice as, firstly, the inclusion of harms against women within the mandates of transitional justice mechanisms; secondly, the recognition of structural gender inequalities that makes women particularly vulnerable to these gender-specific harms; and finally, the participation of women in transitional justice processes and mechanisms. The essay recognises the important benefits of the coalescence of a feminist scholarly agenda in transitional justice, most notably the development of a relevant body of expertise, the ability to learn across transitional justice processes, and the growing policy traction of these scholarly priorities. The essay raises the question, however, as to whether there is a de-politicising impulse in feminist transitional justice scholarship, evidenced by a sustained reluctance to engage with the broader political dynamics that drive transitional justice in particular contexts.

Topics: Feminisms, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Justice, Transitional Justice

Year: 2015

Gender, Poverty and Violence: Transitional Justice Responses to Converging Processes of Domination of Women in Eastern DRC, Northern Uganda and Kenya

Citation:

Fiske, Lucy, and Rita Shackel. 2015. “Gender, Poverty and Violence: Transitional Justice Responses to Converging Processes of Domination of Women in Eastern DRC, Northern Uganda and Kenya.” Women’s Studies International Forum 51 (July): 110–17. doi:10.1016/j.wsif.2014.11.008.

 

 

Authors: Lucy Fiske, Rita Shackel

Annotation:

Gender, poverty and violence readily intersect in women's lives with profound impacts for women entrenching cycles of violence, disadvantage and disempowerment across women's lives in private and public domains. These effects are exacerbated in situations of armed conflict and in post-conflict societies where women are often targeted for particular types of violence, forced to enter into exploitative or abusive relationships and are routinely under-represented in key political, legal and economic decision making structures. Drawing on extensive fieldwork material we examine the complex and mutually constitutive ways in which gender, poverty and violence interact to shape the lives of women living in three conflict and post-conflict societies; eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), northern Uganda and Kenya. Finally, we consider the role of transitional justice, arguing for a more holistic approach with greater attention to gendered social and economic structures and better integration of the various mechanisms of transitional processes. (Synopsis from Elsevier Ltd)

Topics: Economies, Economic Inequality, Poverty, Gender, Gender-Based Violence, Justice, Transitional Justice, Violence Regions: Africa, Central Africa, East Africa Countries: Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Uganda

Year: 2015

After Rape: Comparing Civilian and Combatant Perpetrated Crime in Northern Uganda

Citation:

Porter, Holly E. 2015. “After Rape: Comparing Civilian and Combatant Perpetrated Crime in Northern Uganda.” Women’s Studies International Forum 51 (July): 81–90. doi:10.1016/j.wsif.2014.11.005.

 

Author: Holly E. Porter

Annotation:

Synopsis:
This article explores responses to rape in northern Uganda. The continuum of violence that women experience, before, during and after war is well noted, yet how this relates to exceptional approaches of transitional justice is underexplored. Based on three years of participant observation and in-depth interviews with a random sample of 187 women from two Acholi villages, this article focuses on a comparison between rapes perpetrated by combatants and civilians, both of which followed abductions that were intended to result in “marriage.” The comparison illustrates how experiences of rape do not fit neatly into “war” and “ordinary” categories, and rather suggests that a more useful way of conceptualizing women’'s experiences comes from understanding how particular circumstances of rape shape the social harm she suffers. It shows how experiences of rape and the harm it causes are predicated on understandings of wrongdoing related to challenges posed to social harmony.

Topics: Combatants, Justice, Transitional Justice, Sexual Violence, Rape Regions: Africa, East Africa Countries: Uganda

Year: 2015

Transformative Gender Justice: Setting an Agenda

Citation:

Boesten, Jelke, and Polly Wilding. 2015. “Transformative Gender Justice: Setting an Agenda.” Women’s Studies International Forum 51 (July): 75–80.

Authors: Jelke Boesten, Polly Wilding

Abstract:

Much of women’s experiences during and following periods of extensive violence are informed by pre-existing, peacetime, inequalities. The specific gendered harms suffered by women, such as sexual violence and exploitation, are grounded in understandings of gendered roles in society and the perceived links between reproduction and community. Thus, as the growing body of feminist research into processes of transitional justice show, women have vital stakes in post-conflict transformation, rather than reconstruction (Chinking and Charlesworth 2006 cited in Reilly 2007, Ní Aoláin 2012). Likewise, the (often far less visible) expectation that women sustain their caring roles in the everyday of war – providing food, shelter, and care for dependents, or soldiers, in often desperate contexts – constitutes specifically gendered experiences associated with existing inequalities and expectations (Reilly 2007). With this knowledge in mind, it is increasingly obvious that for women periods of societal transition have to aim for the transformation of the underlying inequalities that provided the conditions in which these specifically gendered harms were possible

Topics: Gender, Women, Gender Roles, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Justice, Transitional Justice, Sexual Violence, Sexual Exploitation and Abuse

Year: 2015

Gender, Globalization, and Violence: Postcolonial Conflict Zones

Citation:

Ponzanesi, Sandra. 2014. Gender, Globalization, and Violence: Postcolonial Conflict Zones. Abingdon: Routledge.

 

Author: Sandra Ponzanesi

Annotation:

Summary:
"This wide-ranging collection of essays elaborates on some of the most pressing issues in contemporary postcolonial society in their transition from conflict and contestation to dialogue and resolution. It explores from new angles questions of violent conflict, forced migration, trafficking and deportation, human rights, citizenship, transitional justice and cosmopolitanism. The volume focuses more specifically on the gendering of violence from a postcolonial perspective as it analyses unique cases that disrupt traditional visions of violence by including the history of empire and colony, and its legacies that continue to influence present-day configurations of gender, race, nationality, class and sexuality. Part One maps out the gendered and racialized contours of conflict zones, from war zones, prisons and refugee camps to peacekeeping missions and humanitarian aid, reframing the field and establishing connections between colonial legacies and postcolonial dynamics. Part Two explores how these conflict zones are played out not just outside but also within Europe, demonstrating that multicultural Europe is fraught with different legacies of violence and postcolonial melancholia. Part Three gives an idea of the kind of future that can be offered to post-conflict societies, defined as contact zones, by exploring opportunities for dialogue, restoration and reconciliation that can be envisaged from a gendered and postcolonial perspective through alternative feminist practices and the work of art and their redemptive power in mobilizing social change or increasing national healing processes. Though strongly anchored in postcolonial critique, the chapters draw from a range of traditions and expertise, including conflict studies, gender theory, visual studies, (new) media theory, sociology, race theory, international security studies and religion studies." (Summary from WorldCat)

Topics: Armed Conflict, Citizenship, Class, Coloniality/Post-Coloniality, Displacement & Migration, Forced Migration, Refugee/IDP Camps, Gender, Globalization, Humanitarian Assistance, Justice, Transitional Justice, Post-Conflict, Post-Conflict Reconstruction, Race, Peacekeeping, Religion, Sexuality, Trafficking, Violence Regions: Europe

Year: 2014

Pages

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