Report: Intersections of Violence Against Women and Girls with Post
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Intersections of violence against women and girls with state-building and peace-building: Lessons from Nepal, Sierra Leone and South Sudan Cover image: Josh Estey/CARE The photos in this report do not represent women and girls who themselves have been affected by gender-based violence nor who Table of contents accessed services. Acknowledgements 2 Acronyms 3 Executive summary 4 Background 4 Case study development 5 Overall summary findings 6 Conclusions and recommendations 9 Background 11 Violence against women and girls in conflict and post-conflict settings 11 State-building and peace-building processes 13 The study 15 Intersections of SBPB and VAWG – findings from the literature review 16 A conceptual framework linking state-building and peace-building and violence against women and girls 18 Case studies 22 Overall summary findings 27 Conclusions and recommendations 41 Annexes 47 Annex 1: Methods 48 Annex 2: Analytical framework 50 Annex 3: Nepal case study 56 Annex 4: Sierra Leone case study 68 Annex 5: South Sudan case study 80 Bibliography 94 Funding 100 Partners 101 Intersections of violence against women and girls with state-building and peace-building: Lessons from Nepal, Sierra Leone and South Sudan 1 Acknowledgements Acronyms The overall report and case studies were drafted by Aisling All People’s Congress APC Swaine, Michelle Spearing, Maureen Murphy and Manuel Contreras. Armed Forces Revolutionary Council AFRC In-country support for qualitative research was received Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) CPN (M) from CARE’s country offices in Nepal (particularly Bisika Comprehensive Peace Agreement CPA Thapa), Sierra Leone (particularly Christiana Momoh) and South Sudan (particularly Dorcas Acen). Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women CEDAW The research team also benefited greatly from the Conflict-related sexual violence CRSV thoughtful comments and overall support to the research process from the following groups: Department for International Development DFID CARE Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group ECOMOG Howard Mollett, Toral Pattni, Bisika Thapa and Dorcas Acen Female genital mutilation FGM George Washington University Mary Ellsberg, Naomi Cahn, Elizabeth Hart, Elizabeth Hedge, Gender-based violence GBV Emily Heimsoth, Isabel Krakoff, Molly Willeford, Elizabeth Gender equality and social inclusion GESI Rojas, Chelsea Ullman and Alexandra Blackwell International Rescue Committee Global Women’s Institute GWI Jeannie Annan, Sarah Cornish, Giorgia Franchi, Tim Hess, International Rescue Committee IRC Helena Minchew, Julia Saint Thomas and Pamela Tuiyott Intimate partner violence IPV The Study’s Technical Advisory Group Christine Chinkin, Andrew Long, Monica McWilliams, National action plan NAP Diana Arango and Tim Conway National Patriotic Front for Liberia NPFL In addition, special thanks to the representatives from the What Works International Advisory Board who Non-governmental organisation NGO were instrumental to informing the report. People’s Liberation Army PLA Republic of South Sudan RSS Revolutionary United Front RUF Sierra Leone Army SLA Seven Party Alliance SPA Sexual exploitation and abuse SEA Sierra Leone People’s Party SLPP State-building and peace-building SBPB Sudanese People’s Liberation Army SPLA Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement SPLM United Nations UN Vesico-vaginal fistula VVF Violence against women and girls VAWG 2 Intersections of violence against women and girls with state-building and peace-building: Lessons from Nepal, Sierra Leone and South Sudan Intersections of violence against women and girls with state-building and peace-building: Lessons from Nepal, Sierra Leone and South Sudan 3 A conceptual framework linking state-building Case study development Executive summary and peace-building and violence against women The study aims to identify and explore the linkages and and girls interconnections between VAWG and SBPB processes in In order to frame the research, two overarching analytical different contexts and draw lessons from best practices models were developed. First, an ecological model and gaps. To achieve this, case studies were developed for examining the risk factors related to VAWG in conflict South Sudan, Nepal and Sierra Leone. These countries were settings. An analytical framework is often used in social selected to ensure a breadth of experiences in terms of the and epidemiological research to understand multiple, nature of the conflict and patterns of violence, experiences interconnected levels of risks that contribute to health of VAWG, geographic diversity (spanning West Africa, East outcomes, for example, risks encountered at a societal, Africa and Asia), length of time since the conflict ended, and community and individual level. The new framework brings progress in SBPB. together the knowledge base from existing literature (both These case studies utilise the analytical framework as a empirical and theoretical) of posited drivers of VAWG conceptual basis for understanding connections between within and outside times of armed conflict. These drivers SBPB and VAWG. Following the completion of a country include endemic factors that lead to VAWG during conflict level literature review, primary data was collected. and peacetime, and drivers identified as distinctive to or This involved interviews and focus group discussions associated with conflict. with informants from key stakeholder groups, including After this ecological model was developed, a further representatives from non-governmental organisations analytical model was created to bring together the divergent (NGOs), the United Nations (UN), the government and civil academic and practitioner spheres of VAWG and SBPB. society. The findings of the three case studies were analysed This features: and compared for common themes and trends. These were then organised according to the SBPB and VAWG analytical • causal drivers of VAWG, including those specifically framework previously developed and key findings from each The research questions related to conflict and post-conflict dynamics case study consolidated in this report. Background This study has been conducted as part of the What Works to What Works to Prevent VAWG in Conflict and Humanitarian • critical components of state-building processes, and where and how VAWG might be addressed The United Nations (UN) has long highlighted the importance Crises programme. It is funded by the UK government and of addressing women’s rights concerns in relation to armed focuses on two overarching research questions: • critical components of peace-building processes, and conflict and state-building and peace-building (SBPB) efforts. where and how VAWG might be addressed. However, the gendered nature of SBPB processes are often 1) How have programmes and policies to prevent and overlooked, despite the ways in which gender power relations respond to VAWG been integrated and addressed within The analytical framework attempts to address the way SBPB are present in and can affect the success or failure of SBPB post-conflict state-building policy and programming? strategies may affect VAWG and how VAWG may cause continued conflict and fragility. The framework draws on (Strickland and Duvvury, 2003). 2) In a conflict-affected country, how is VAWG related to the Department for International Development’s (DFID) efforts to achieve peace and stability? Calls for the inclusion of women in peace processes have Integrated Building Peaceful States and Societies model prompted a burgeoning response. This has included (DFID and UK Aid, 2016) as an overarching conceptual basis. the adoption of related global policy instruments and international and local actors utilising humanitarian and post-conflict programming to provide services for the survivors of violence against women and girls (VAWG). At the same time, a focus on securing stability and peace in the aftermath of armed conflicts has prompted a range of global policy initiatives. Key parties involved in this work have been international governments and the UN system and its partners. It is evident that international and national approaches to prevent and respond to VAWG and SBPB processes often exist in parallel to one another; however, evidence shows that state-centric SBPB strategies consistently neglect issues of gender equality and VAWG (Castilejo, 2012; Handrahan, 2004; Zuckerman & Greenberg, 2004). This study aims to contribute a new set of evidence and an analysis of the intersections between VAWG and SBPB. It’s hoped these will inform future conflict and post-conflict SBPB to ensure they are more effective at addressing VAWG, and particularly forms of VAWG that act as barriers to peace and stability. 4 Intersections of violence against women and girls with state-building and peace-building: Lessons from Nepal, Sierra Leone and South Sudan Intersections of violence against women and girls with state-building and peace-building: Lessons from Nepal, Sierra Leone and South Sudan 5 Patriarchal norms and violence can affect the Despite efforts to move on from the descriptors of The work of women’s rights organisations is essential Overall summary findings 3 prioritisation of programmes and policies to prevent 5 ‘conflict-affected’ and ‘post-conflict’, conflict-related 8 for the prioritisation of efforts to prevent and and address violence against women and girls in post- VAWG is often not sufficiently addressed in state- respond to violence against women and girls in state-