The Disarmament and Demobilization of Female Ex-Combatants in Africa
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University of Louisville ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository Electronic Theses and Dissertations 5-2014 Girls with guns : the disarmament and demobilization of female ex-combatants in Africa. Emily Katherine Maiden University of Louisville Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.library.louisville.edu/etd Part of the Political Science Commons Recommended Citation Maiden, Emily Katherine, "Girls with guns : the disarmament and demobilization of female ex-combatants in Africa." (2014). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 890. https://doi.org/10.18297/etd/890 This Master's Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by ThinkIR: The nivU ersity of Louisville's Institutional Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ThinkIR: The nivU ersity of Louisville's Institutional Repository. This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has retained all other copyrights. For more information, please contact [email protected]. GIRLS WITH GUNS: THE DISARMAMENT AND DEMOBILIZATION OF FEMALE EX-COMBATANTS IN AFRICA By Emily Katherine Maiden B.A., University of Louisville, 2011 A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of the University of Louisville in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Department of Political Science University of Louisville Louisville, Kentucky May 2014 GIRLS WITH GUNS: THE DISARMAMENT AND DEMOBILIZATION OF FEMALE EX-COMBATANTS IN AFRICA By Emily Katherine Maiden B.A., University of Louisville, 2011 A Thesis Approved on April 9, 2014 by the following Thesis Committee: ___________________________________ Jason Gainous, Ph.D., Committee Chair ___________________________________ Tricia Gray, Ph.D. ___________________________________ Nancy Nyquist Potter, Ph.D. ii DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to my parents Michael and Julie Rath and to my husband Jordan Maiden who support me in all my endeavors. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would first like to offer heartfelt thanks to the members of my Thesis Committee: Dr. Jason Gainous, Dr. Tricia Gray, and Dr. Nancy Nyquist Potter for their support and guidance through this process. I would also like to acknowledge the other professors who have been pivotal in the shaping of my academic and professional career including Drs. Patricia Condon, Jennie Burnet, Julie Bunck, and Thomas Maloney. Aside from mentorship and support, all of these faculty members have served as exemplary role models for me, daily demonstrating what it takes to be an effective scholar and teacher. Finally, I wish to acknowledge the mentorship of Dr. Michael Fowler, who has guided me through the turbulent waters of international law, diplomacy, U.S. foreign policy, mediation, and negotiation since 2008. iv ABSTRACT GIRLS WITH GUNS: THE DISARMAMENT AND DEMOBILIZATION OF FEMALE EX-COMBATANTS IN AFRICA Emily K. Maiden April 9, 2014 Since the passing of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1325, states recovering from violence have worked to integrate females into peacemaking and peacebuilding processes. However, many states—particularly in Africa—struggle to craft policy that properly integrates female ex-combatants into disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) programs. Much of the literature on this subject focuses on how women and girls are reintegrated and rehabilitated into civilian society. However, the first vital steps in the DDR process are disarmament and demobilization. Utilizing the Peace Accords Matrix, I analyze a number of recent cases in Africa to examine ways in which DDR policy can be improved to provide females with better, safer access to the cantonment sites where the DDR process initiates. The most important changes that must take place include expanding the definition of “combatant” to include those who are not armed and removing the label of “dependent” from female ex-combatants. v TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...............................................................................................iv ABSTRACT........................................................................................................................v CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION..................................................................................1 Women in Violence and Conflict............................................................................6 Female Combatants in Africa..................................................................................8 Where are the Women in DDR?............................................................................12 Why should We Care about Female Combatants?................................................16 CHAPTER TWO: UNDERSTANDING DDR.................................................................20 What is Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR).......................20 Disarmament..........................................................................................................22 Cash-for-Guns in Africa........................................................................................24 Demobilization.......................................................................................................28 Cantonments, Women, and Sexual Violence.........................................................35 Reintegration..........................................................................................................38 Reintegrating Child Soldiers..................................................................................42 DDR in Review......................................................................................................48 vi CHAPTER THREE: LITERATURE REVIEW AND METHODOLOGY......................49 Start at the Source: Where does DDR Begin?.......................................................52 Effectiveness, Efficiency, and Equity in DDR Processes......................................54 Research Design and Methodology.......................................................................57 The Peace Accords Matrix: Selecting the Case Studies........................................58 Hypotheses: Fixing a Broken System....................................................................63 CHAPTER FOUR: DDR IN FOUR AFRICAN CASE STUDIES...................................65 Sierra Leone: One Person, One Gun......................................................................66 Burundi: Prostitutes and Thieves...........................................................................78 Liberia: Dangerous Disconnect..............................................................................90 South Sudan: Fight or Flight................................................................................101 Case Studies in Review........................................................................................117 CHAPTER FIVE: POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS...................................................120 Combatant Status.................................................................................................122 Better Cantonment Access...................................................................................124 Increased Cantonment Security...........................................................................125 Equal Opportunities.............................................................................................128 Conclusion...........................................................................................................130 REFERENCES................................................................................................................134 CURRICULUM VITAE…………………………………………..................................153 vii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION In many regions of the world, women and girls struggle against masculinized social and cultural structures. This struggle takes place in their homes, neighborhoods, places of worship, schools, and offices. However, nowhere is the lack of female voices more apparent than in the political arena (deAlwis et al. 2013). By extension, women are also routinely blocked from participating in international peacemaking and peacebuilding processes. In various African countries, governments and warring parties frequently attempt to sideline women. For example, during a round of peace proceedings in the Democratic Republic of Congo, government representatives insisted that war and peace are exclusively the business of men and women have no right to participate (Mpoumou 2004). In Burundi, men went so far as to tell the women gathered: “You should be at home. Peace is a men’s issue” (Kadende-Kaiser 2012:137). As a result of forced marginalization, female participation in peace processes is restricted to the feminized, less valued, informal level where they are unable to meaningfully contribute to decision making (deAlwis et al. 2013; Mazurana 2013; McKay 1998; Nordstrom 1998). This leads to the majority of women’s voices going unheard during formal processes including: peace negotiations; disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR); constitution-creation; elections; reconstruction; and rehabilitation (Dyfan and Piccirilli 2004; Sjoberg 2010; Schnabel and Tabyshalieva 1 2012). However, since the passing of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1325 in October 2000, the international community is now stressing the importance of incorporating women into peace and security frameworks by codifying these processes into