Peace Studies Conference

As I prepare to present research at conference hosted by the Peace and Justice Studies Association in San Diego, I find myself once again reflecting on the role women play in building peace and how they are the ones who suffer the most during and post conflict.

There is a Kenyan Proverb: "It is the grass under the feet of the elephant that gets destroyed in the fight". In other words, it is the innocent - the women and children - who suffer the most when there is conflict (and certainly academic research reinforces what we know instinctively). Gender-based violence does not simply become manifest in the use of sexual violence but in any restrictive form of violence towards women. These include a lack of access to education, diverse ethnic and tribal identities, gender-based issues, such as land ownership, inheritance rights, an imbalance of household roles within a patriarchal society, rituals such as female circumcision or female genital mutilation, severe poverty and many other forms of violence that target women’s identity or social and cultural roles.

When I was in Uganda, I worked with a group of women who had been displaced by the violence of the Kony insurgency. These women had escaped the violence in the North of Uganda and were now living on the grounds of Liziria, the maximum security prison in Kampala. They spoke of how they imagined peace, how they knew when they were at peace, and what they did to encourage peace with each other and with those they loved who were still far away. We sat and talked, and most importantly, listened as they shared their stories and their struggles to rebuild their lives and to create new community.