Saturday, August 29, 2009

Women and the LRA

Chris Blattman has posted an excellent new paper he has done with some co-authors on the role of women and girls in the LRA. The paper challenges some conventional thinking of women as only passive sex objects. It is well worth a read.

For me, the most important point is how the LRA presented very similar opportunities for women as those not abducted; i.e. not many. Acholi women have historically had very few chances to be more than wives, mothers and servants.

A sad, but very real truth, is that a woman abducted by the LRA and forced to marry a high ranking leader often had many more opportunities for herself and her children than if she had staid at home.

1 comment:

CS said...

This paper from ILO on the experiences of girl combatants in Liberia's civil war gives some fascinating insights to the roles of women in conflict.

http://www.ilo.org/public/english/employment/crisis/download/redshoes.pdf