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Proquest Dissertations Why Women's Participation is Essential to Sustainable Peacebuilding: Lessons from Sierra Leone by Aimee White Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts at Dalhousie University Halifax, Nova Scotia April 2008 © Copyright by Aimee White, 2008 Library and Bibliotheque et 1*1 Archives Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-39204-1 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-39204-1 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives and Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par Plntemet, prefer, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans loan, distribute and sell theses le monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, worldwide, for commercial or non­ sur support microforme, papier, electronique commercial purposes, in microform, et/ou autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. this thesis. Neither the thesis Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels de nor substantial extracts from it celle-ci ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement may be printed or otherwise reproduits sans son autorisation. reproduced without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne Privacy Act some supporting sur la protection de la vie privee, forms may have been removed quelques formulaires secondaires from this thesis. ont ete enleves de cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires in the document page count, aient inclus dans la pagination, their removal does not represent il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. any loss of content from the thesis. Canada DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY To comply with the Canadian Privacy Act the National Library of Canada has requested that the following pages be removed from this copy of the thesis: Preliminary Pages Examiners Signature Page (pii) Dalhousie Library Copyright Agreement (piii) Appendices Copyright Releases (if applicable) TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT V LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS USED vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS viii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Statement of Research Problem 1 1.2 Background 2 1.2.1 Socio-Political History of Sierra Leone and the 1991-2002 Conflict 2 1.2.2 Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in the Sierra Leonean Context 8 1.3 Methodology 11 1.4 Summary of Sections 13 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 16 CHAPTER 3 WOMEN'S ROLES IN THE CONFLICT 36 3.1 Victim 36 3.2 Participant 37 3.3 Peacemaker 40 CHAPTER 4 POST-CONFLICT IMPLICATIONS & THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF WOMEN 47 4.1 Victim 47 4.2 Participant 49 4.3 Peacemaker 53 4.4 Lack of Political Will 56 CHAPTER 5 THE RWANDAN CONTEXT: A COMPARISON 60 5.1 Socio-Political History of Rwanda and the 1994 Genocide 60 5.2 Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in the Rwandan Context 62 5.3 Women's Roles in the Genocide 63 5.4 Post-Conflict Implications and Developments 67 CHAPTER 6 SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS OF SIERRA LEONE TODAY 74 6.1 Progress 74 6.2 The Way Forward 79 CHAPTER 7 CONCLUSION 90 7.1 What Lessons Can Be Learned? 90 7.2 Now What? 93 BIBLIOGRAPHY 98 iv ABSTRACT Post-conflict countries will not achieve sustainable peace without the inclusion and participation of women in peacebuilding processes. In Sierra Leone, women were heavily involved in bringing about an end to the 1991-2002 conflict, but yet were largely excluded from political and decision-making processes in post-conflict context. The physical and structural gender-based violence women experienced throughout the conflict and the ways in which women took the lead in addressing these issues in the post-conflict context demonstrates women's essential but formally unrecognized role in peacebuilding in Sierra Leone. The post-genocide context in Rwanda provides a comparison for the ways in which women have seized the socio-political space opened up by conflict to challenge gender inequality and take an active role in the political structures of the country. There are a number of international policy frameworks to complement this process in post-conflict countries but international and national rhetoric must translate into concrete action. v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS USED AFRC Armed Forces Revolutionary Council APC All People's Congress AU African Union CDF Civil Defense Forces CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women CSO Civil Society Organization ECOMOG Economic Community of West African States Observer Group ECOWAS Economic Community of West African States DDR Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration FAWE Forum for African Women Educationalists FSU Family Support Unit GAPS Gender Action for Peace and Security GBV Gender-Based Violence HDI Human Development Index LAWCLA Lawyer's Commission for Legal Assistance LAWYERS Lawyers Yearning for Equality, Rights, and Social Justice LRC Sierra Leone Law Reform Commission LSTC Luawa Skills Training Center MARWOPNET Mano River Women's Peace Network MDG Millennium Development Goals MIGEPROFE Ministry for Gender and Women in Development MSF Medecins Sans Frontieres NaCSA National Commission on Social Action NCDDR National Committee for Disarmament, Demobilisation, and Reintegration NEWMAP Network of Women Ministers and Parliamentarians NGO Non-Governmental Organization NPFL National Patriotic Front of Liberia NPRC National Provisional Ruling Council PCHR Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights PROWA Progressive Women's Association PRWA Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People's Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa PTSD Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder RPF Rwandese Patriotic Front RUF Revolutionary United Front SBU/SGU Small Boys/Small Girls Units SCR Security Council Resolution SLA Sierra Leone Army SLP Sierra Leone Police SLPP Sierra Leone People's Party VI SLWF Sierra Leone Women's Forum SLWMP Sierra Leone Women's Movement for Peace STI Sexually Transmitted Infection TRC Truth and Reconciliation Commission UNAMSIL United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone UNDDR United Nations Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration UNDP United Nations Development Program UNICEF United Nations Children's Fund UNIFEM United Nations Development Fund for Women UNOMSIL United Nations Observer Mission in Sierra Leone UNSC United Nations Security Council UNSD United Nations Statistics Division WHO World Health Organization WOMEN Women Organized for a Morally Enlightened Nation WPM Women's Progressive Movement YWCA Young Women's Christian Association vn ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to Dr. Peter Arthur for his support and guidance over the past several months and for graciously finding the time to supervise my thesis outside the normal parameters of the program. I would also like to thank my other thesis committee members, Dr. Shelly Whitman and Dr. David Black, for their invaluable support and for coming on board at short notice amidst a very busy semester. I am also grateful to my parents, Scott and Debbie White, for their whole-hearted support and understanding while I completed both of my degrees "in my own way," and for helping me find the space and time to do so. Last but certainly not least, I would like to thank my partner, Alan Hodgson, who has given me his constant support throughout this process, in ways too numerous to count and too selfless to measure. vin CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Statement of Research Problem The purpose of this thesis is to explore a paradoxical situation in Sierra Leone: one where women were heavily involved in bringing about an end to the 1991-2002 conflict, but yet were largely excluded from political and decision-making processes in post-conflict reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts. It will be suggested that Sierra Leonean leadership is generally reluctant to include women in decision-making, aside from at the community level, and that they will likewise be reluctant to implement policy and legislation in the pursuit of gender equality, due to the country's widespread and socially accepted levels of gender inequality, which is often manifested in terms of gender based violence (GBV): both physical and structural forms of GBV. Thus, the central research problem and question to be explored by this thesis is: • How can a society that perpetuates gender inequality and excludes women in formal decision-making processes meaningfully recover from conflict, ensure sustainable peace, and provide for the human security of its citizens? Additionally, • How can women use their positions as peacemakers to address other gender issues in post-conflict reconstruction? • And, to what degree does a post-conflict context provide a new starting point for women to recreate their roles in society? In answering each of these questions stated above, it will be useful to examine similar situations in other post-conflict contexts. The example of Rwanda will be discussed 1 briefly toward the end of this thesis. Finally, the overall perspective of this thesis is adopted from the Africana Womanist approach, which accounts for a variety of diverse perspectives and realities of African women, as well as asserts that men and women are on different sides of the same coin: that is, they must work together, as they have been for centuries, if there is any hope of achieving gender equality. 1.2 Background 1.2.1 Socio-Political History of Sierra Leone and the 1991-2002 Conflict At independence in 1961, Sierra Leone was hailed as one of Africa's most promising countries. With it being the oldest modern polity on the continent, and with the oldest university, Sierra Leone entered independence with a sound economy, progressive politics, a wealth of natural resources and various burgeoning industries.
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