Feminist Africa 10 Militarism, Conflict and Women's Activism
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Feminist Africa 10 Militarism, Conflict and Women’s Activism Issue 10: August 2008 First published in 2008 by the African Gender Institute All Africa House University of Cape Town Private Bag Rondebosch 7701 © in published edition: African Gender Institute, University of Cape Town, South Africa, 2008 ISSN: 1726-4596 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording and/or otherwise without permission in writing from the publisher. Published with the support of the Ford Foundation and HIVOS. Editorial Assistant: Felix Liersch Copyediting: Ramola Ramtohul Proofreading: Ramola Ramtohul and Felix Liersch ICT and Web Co-ordinator: Fareeda Jadwat Printing: Two Tone Trade 18 cc Cover Design: Muthoni Kimani Distribution: AGI Staff Feminist Africa is a scholarly journal accredited by the South African Department of Education. • ii • Feminist Africa 10 Editorial policy Editor Feminist Africa is guided by a profound Amina Mama commitment to transforming gender hierarchies in Africa, and seeks to redress injustice and Issue 10 Co-Editors inequality in its content and design, and by Amina Mama and Margo Okazawa-Rey its open-access and continentally-targeted distribution strategy. Feminist Africa targets Editorial team gender researchers, students, educators, Jane Bennett women’s organisations and feminist activists Teresa Barnes throughout Africa. It works to develop a Elaine Salo feminist intellectual community by promoting Yaliwe Clarke and enhancing African women’s intellectual Felix Liersch work. To overcome the access and distribution Fareeda Jadwat challenges facing conventional academic publications, Feminist Africa deploys a dual Editorial advisory group dissemination strategy, using the Internet The editorial advisory group of Feminist Africa as a key tool for knowledge-sharing and consists of scholars and researchers, located communication, while making hard copies in different fields in the social sciences and available to those based at African institutions. humanities, who offer their expertise to the Two issues are produced per annum, in development and dissemination of Feminist accordance with themes specified in the calls Africa as an innovative African-focused journal. for contributions. Advisory group members are: The editorial team can be contacted at Akosua Adamako, Bibi Bakare-Yusuf, Teresa [email protected] Barnes, Kum-Kum Bhavnani, Hope Chigudu, Tsitsi Dangaremba, Carole Boyce Davies, Simidele Acknowledgements Dosekun, Amanda Gouws, Pregs Govender, The Feminist Africa team acknowledges Pumla Dineo Gqola, Shireen Hassim, Desiree the intellectual input of the community of Lewis, Zine Magubane, Takyiwaa Manuh, Helen African feminist scholars and the Editorial Moffett, Chandra Mohanty, Patricia Mohammed, Advisory Board. Patricia McFadden, Margo Okazawa-Rey, Awino We thank the Ford Foundation and Okech, Charmaine Pereira, Jennifer Radloff, HIVOS for their financial support towards Rhoda Reddock, Vasu Reddy, Kopano Ratele, production and publication. Ebrima Sall, Fatou Sow, Julia Sudbury, Sylvia Tamale, Dzodzi Tsikata, Zenebeworke Tadesse, Disclaimer Muthoni Wanyeki and Paul Zeleza. The views expressed by contributors to Feminist Africa are not necessarily those Manuscript submissions of the Editors, Editorial Advisory Board, the Feminist Africa has a submissions policy African Gender Institute, or our partners. determined by the continental focus and While every reasonable effort is made to capacity-building aims of the African check factual accuracy in published material, Gender Institute’s “Gender and Women’s the contributors are ultimately responsible Studies in Africa” project. Periodic calls for for verifying claims made in their writings. contributions along particular themes should Neither Feminist Africa nor the African guide submissions. All contributions must Gender Institute will be responsible for errors register the centrality of gender analysis or inaccuracies in contributions. and politics to past, present and ongoing processes of social, political and cultural change in Africa. We regret that we cannot respond to all unsolicited submissions. 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Material, artwork extracts and articles South Africa from Feminist Africa may not be reproduced tel: 27 11 678 4416 in any form of print or electronic publication fax: 27 11 678 4464 without the permission of the Editors, who can email: [email protected] be contacted at [email protected]. web: www.ebsco.com/home/southafrica Requests for permission to reproduce material will not be granted until one calendar year after first online publication in Feminist Africa has lapsed. • iv • Feminist Africa 10 Contents Editorial: Militarism, Conflict and Women’s Activism – by Amina Mama and Margo Okazawa-Rey 1 Features Militarism, Ethnicity and Sexual Violence in the Rwandan Genocide - by Rangira Béa Gallimore 9 Militarization, Gender and Transitional Justice in Africa - by Helen Scanlon 31 Security Sector Reform in Africa: A Lost Opportunity to Deconstruct Militarised Masculinities? - by Yaliwe Clarke 49 Women’s Responses to State Violence in the Niger Delta - by Sokari Ekine 67 Standpoints We Need an International Campaign to Resist Androcentric Militarized Neo-Colonial Masculinities! - by Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge 85 Lessons from Kenya: Women and the Post-Election Violence - by Muthoni Wanyeki 91 In Conversation Woman Mobilising for Peace: Margo Okazawa-Rey speaks with Yasmin Jusu-Sheriff 99 Healing Work with War Survivors: Margo Okazawa-Rey speaks with Ruth Ojiambo Ochieng 111 Feminist Africa 10 • v • Profile Building Genuine Security: The International Women’s Network Against Militarism - by Gwyn Kirk 123 Reviews Pray the Devil Back to Hell, directed by Gini Reticker and produced by Abigail Disney - reviewed by Yaba Badoe 133 The Roots of African Conflicts: The Causes and Costs and The Resolution of African Conflicts: The Management of Conflict Resolution and Post-Conflict Reconstruction. Alfred Nhema and Paul Tiyambe Zeleza, eds. 2008. Addis Ababa: OSSREA, Oxford: James Currey, Athens: Ohio University Press and Pretoria: UNISA Press. - reviewed by Cheryl Hendricks 137 “If I Were Given the Choice”: Palestinian Women’s Stories of Daily Life during the Years 2000-2003 of the Second Intifada. Ramallah: Women’s Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling. - reviewed by Margo Okazawa-Rey 143 Contributors 144 • vi • Feminist Africa 10 Editorial • 1 • Editorial: Militarism, Conflict and Women’s Activism Amina Mama and Margo Okazawa-Rey Feminist Africa 10 is dedicated to critical gender analysis of postcolonial Africa’s most destructive scourge - militarism and violent conflict. The idea for this issue was generated in the context of a research workshop that brought scholars and activists from East, West and Southern Africa together to discuss the prevailing situation and develop an agenda for feminist action research on gender and militarism in Africa1. During our discussions we realised the pervasiveness of conflict in our collective experience, as well as how little work has been done to address the centrality of gender in Africa’s history of violent conflict and military rule. We agreed on the importance of generating a strong feminist analysis of this collective history and experience, formulated a collaborative research agenda that would support strategising for transformation of the current conditions, and made plans to implement this. FA 10 marks our identification of militarism and anti-militarist activism as a key area for feminist strategy and study in the coming years. The African continent pursued political independence more than half a century ago, seeking freedom to overcome colonial legacies of military pacification and iron-fisted colonial governments characterised by administrative tyranny, economic exploitation, socio-cultural repression, and all the dynamics that perpetrated underdevelopment and the extreme marginalisation of African women from mainstream public and economic life. When victory came, and political transitions to African rule came, the institutions of state bore the marks of a patriarchal and militaristic history. Independent states promoted an ethos of restorative masculinity, and political