Feminist Africa Issue 14. 2010: Rethinking Gender and Violence (original) (raw)
Related papers
Gendered Violence: Continuities and Transformation in the Aftermath of Conflict in Africa
Signs, 2014
T he Blue Dress by Judith Mason, depicted on the cover of this issue, features in the central panel a sculpture of a long flowing dress stitched from pieces of blue plastic and ornamented with several lines of text painted on its hemline. The exterior panels are oil paintings of a blue dress in perfect ðdisÞembodied pose. To the right and behind each of the ðdisÞembodied dress images is an animal caged by what looks like a fence in a honeycomb pattern. In the first panel, the animal appears to have torn off a piece of the blue dress, which it is dragging with one of its front paws. In the third panel, the animal appears to be lunging forward in attack mode, baring its teeth, but it is trapped behind the fence. In the foreground of the third panel are three glowing braziers toward which the dress, without a physical body, appears to be moving, and a glowing mug positioned in front of the animal but out of its reach ðsee fig. 1Þ. Judith Mason was inspired by Phila Ndwandwe's story, broadcast live from the public hearings of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission ðTRCÞ in November 1996. A member of the military wing of the African National Congress ðANCÞ, Ndwandwe was living in exile in Swaziland along with hundreds of antiapartheid activists who had been targeted by the apartheid security forces for conducting military operations in South Africa. Like many who disappeared without any trace in the late 1980s, Ndwandwe was abducted, tortured, and murdered in November 1988 by the apartheid government's security police. Her story emerged when TRC investigators identified police officers involved in covert operations for the security police. The essays in this thematic cluster are drawn from a symposium that was held at the University of Cape Town ðUCTÞ in August 2011. The symposium was supported by a grant from the Programme for the Enhancement of Research Capacity ðPERCÞ. We wish to thank Professor Robert Morrell, coordinator of PERC, for his unyielding support. We would also like to give special thanks to the editors of Signs, Mary Hawkesworth and her colleagues, for their editorial contributions that greatly improved the manuscript.
Understanding Violence Against Women in Africa
Understanding Violence Against Women in Africa, 2021
Since the adoption of UN Resolution 1325, the subject of violence against women has gained traction in the policy arena. Nonetheless, violence against women and girls persists in a brutal and unacceptable manner both in conflict situations and even in societies said to be at peace. This book is well researched and will contribute to a deeper reflection on the issue of violence against women and girls. The issues and questions raised strategically propel the search for action-oriented policies. The book will be a treasure particularly to students and researchers alike with an interest in gender studies, peacebuilding and conflict resolution.
Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African History, 2019
and Keywords Violence, in all of its forms, touches girls and women's lives in Africa. While there is evi dence that girls and women do participate in violence, research has shown that a signifi cant proportion of them have also been victims. Violence against women describes vio lence inflicted on girls and women because of their gender and includes femicide, rape, intimate partner violence, and human trafficking. It also includes harmful practices such as female genital mutilation and early marriage. While it is a global problem, the levels of some forms of violence against women are particularly high in Africa. The problem is caused by a complex interaction of factors operating at multiple levels, including at the global level. Historical records show that acts of violence against women, including inti mate partner violence and non-partner sexual violence, were perpetrated during the colo nial era. During this period, perpetrators of non-partner sexual violence included colonial officers and troops under their command. Cases brought before colonial courts some times resulted in the conviction of the offender, but sentences were generally light. How ever, incidents of violence against women were mostly resolved within the family or com munity, with relatives and traditional leaders playing a central role. The post-independence period has seen increased attention to violence against women. Activism by women's movements contributed to placing the issue on the agenda of states and of international organizations such as the United Nations. Sexual violence perpetrat ed by armed actors during wars in the 1990s also served to draw attention to violence against women. Consequently, most African countries have amended colonial-era rape laws and have adopted new legislation to address acts such as intimate partner violence, early marriage, and female genital mutilation. Many of them have also created special ized criminal-justice-sector institutions to address various forms of violence against women. These actions on the part of states have been influenced by women's movements and by pressure from international organizations such as the United Nations. While this demonstrates progress on the part of African states, there is a large implementation gap in most countries. Thus, girls and women rarely benefit from the progressive laws on the books. This demonstrates that there is much work that needs to be done to address vio lence against women in Africa.
Violence Against Women in the New African Wars
War and Sexual Violence, 2019
Although there is still much to learn about female victims of sexual violence in war, it seems necessary at this stage of our collective scholarship to remember that women are also perpetrators of sexual violence against both women and men, that men are also victims of sexual violence, and that women are not only victims of war, they are also actors, fighters and sometimes, peacemakers. In this contribution, my particular interest is in women as economic actors in wartime.
Handbook of Research on the Impact of Culture in Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding, 2020
Despite global efforts, gender-based violence continues to be witnessed in varying degrees around the world. The use of dialogue as an effective tool in mitigating violence and conflict situations around the world provides an inspiration to conceive the need to extend the scope of dialogue to the domain of male-female relationship, which is fast becoming too complex, sensitive, strained, and tempestuous. In this study, the relevance of dialogue for a violent-free culture in the context of gender relations is interrogated. This study maintains that a dialogic mode of male-female relationship would go a long way to mitigate the persistent cases of gender-based violence. In an exploratory approach, Leonard Swidler's understanding and principles of dialogue are used as a framework to demonstrate what an inter-gender dialogue would look like. It concludes that, as dialogue offers an interactive framework for mutual understanding of one another, an inter-gender dialogue is constitutive of the social intercourse, which the very concept of dialogue represents.
ADDRESSING GENDER BASED VIOLENCE IN AFRICA (NIGERIA AND BOTSWANA)
Saudi Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 2021
Gender-Based Violence (GBV) also known as Violence against Women (VAW), Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), or Domestic Violence (DV) is an age socio-cultural issue deep-rooted in African societies. Globally, Gender-Based Violence accounts for nearly one quarter of all recorded crimes. Gender-Based violence affects women in Africa irrespective of age, class, educational level and place of residence. The African society is inherently patriarchal. This is due to the influence of the various religions and customs practiced. Women are seen as inferior to men, and are regarded as property. This practice and mindset has been ingrained in the subconscious mind of the average African man. Consequently, Gender-Based violence has become entrenched and institutionalized. This paper examines Gender-based Violence in Africa (with emphasis on Nigeria and Botswana in the Sub Saharan African Region) and posits that such violence stems mainly from socio –cultural factors and lack of political will to implement effective laws that prohibit and punish GBV. Other factors that engender Gender-Based violence, like lack of awareness of rights by women, illiteracy, poverty, child/ forced marriage, substance abuse are also examined. Recommendations to curb violence against women in Nigeria, Botswana and Africa as a whole are underscored. This study employs the doctrinal research methodology. Keywords: Violence, Women, Africa, Nigeria, Botswana, Socio – Cultural Factors.