Critical Half Bi-Annual Journal of Women for Women International FALL 2007 VOLUME 5 - NUMBER 2 Women’s Narratives, War, and Peace-Building “Women Cannot Cry Anymore”: Global Voices Transforming Violent Confl ict EMIKO NOMA Women Building Peace: The Liberian Women’s Peace Movement ERICA K. SEWELL Women’s Truth Narratives: The Power of Compassionate Listening ELISABETH PORTER Suppression of Tamil Women’s Narratives in Sri Lanka DUSHYANTHI HOOLE IN THE FIELD: Enacting the Power of Women’s Narratives: My Journey from Trauma and Silence to Become an Agent of Social Change HONORATA KIZENDE photo: Susan Meiselas BOARD OF EDITORS Dr. Brenda J. Allen University of Colorado at Denver Dr. Jessica Katz Jameson North Carolina State University Dr. Anita Nahal Howard University Dr. Rebecca Reviere Howard University Takirra Winfi eld National Association of People with AIDS Cerise L. Glenn Women for Women International, Managing Editor Critical Half is a bi-annual journal of Women for Women International devoted to the exchange of ideas and insight en- countered by practitioners in the fi elds of gender, development, confl ict, and post-confl ict reconstruction. Each issue of Critical Half focuses on a particular topic within the fi eld of gender and development. Past issues of the journal and calls for papers for upcoming issues can be found on our website at www.womenforwomen.org. The contents of Critical Half are copyrighted. They may not be reproduced or distributed without written permission. Commercial use of any material contained in this journal is strictly prohibited. For copy permission, notifi cations of address changes, or to make comments, please write to [email protected]. Copyright © Women for Women International Critical Half WOMEN’S NARRATIVES, WAR, AND PEACE-BUILDING Vol. 5 No. 2 Fall 2007 Refl ections from the Board of Editors DR. REBECCA REVIERE ...............................................................................................................................5 In this issue of Critical Half ZAINAB SALBI ............................................................................................................................................6 “Women Cannot Cry Anymore”: Global Voices Transforming Violent Confl ict EMIKO NOMA .............................................................................................................................................8 Women Building Peace: The Liberian Women’s Peace Movement ERICA K. SEWELL .................................................................................................................................... 14 Women’s Truth Narratives: The Power of Compassionate Listening ELISABETH PORTER ................................................................................................................................ 20 Suppression of Tamil Women’s Narratives in Sri Lanka DUSHYANTHI HOOLE .............................................................................................................................. 26 IN THE FIELD: Enacting the Power of Women’s Narratives: My Journey from Trauma and Silence to Become an Agent of Social Change HONORATA KIZENDE ............................................................................................................................... 33 4 FALL 2007 Re ections from the Board of Editors omen tell the stories of their lives—to their that stories of survival, success, and concrete solutions in children, to their friends and neighbors, to the face of profound problems are also shared. Stories Wtheir lovers and husbands. These narratives of women who become heroes under impossible circum- can teach a lesson, open a dialogue, pass information, stances can uplift and inspire. In addition, if we defi ne share experiences; the ability and the willingness to ourselves by our problems and our oppressors rather than communicate is one of women’s assets. With their sto- by our strengths, we lose hope, and chances for change ries, women connect both with other people and with fade. If we only think of women in the context of war, their own inner voices. A narrative can empower both we lose the vision of peace. the teller and the audience. While the importance of Narratives cross borders; they are not static. But sharing a personal story may start with introspection there is a challenge in getting stories heard in a way that and interpersonal bonds, the real power of a narrative can foster positive change. We have gone from sharing is its potential to illuminate a social problem and create stories around campfi res to the potential for stories to social change. be shared among millions. Television, radio, magazines, One of the important contributions of women’s newspapers, and the Internet have replaced the village movements worldwide has been the sharing of personal square as sources of information. But the power of the narratives that help “name” issues that have previously media to distort the realities of everyday life is tremen- gone unmentioned. For example, violence against women dous. Therefore, a vital step in the creation of a just and has always existed, but when victims share their painful peaceful world is the development of a media platform stories, the phenomenon can no longer be ignored or that truthfully disseminates women’s experiences of war compartmentalized. The telling impacts both the speak- and of peace-building. ers and the listeners: battered women recognize that they If a story is heard without distortion, it can resonate are not alone, and those who hear the stories, including by inspiring attentive and compassionate listeners to work other battered women themselves, begin noticing com- with the tools and resources available to create a better monalities and accepted norms and demanding change. world. Citizens in peaceful regions have a responsibility This is not to say that domestic violence has disappeared. to listen and to pass along the stories that women in Far from it. But it is now recognized for the global social confl ict regions tell. Funders, academics (especially in problem that it is. This consciousness raising is only pos- women’s studies), and lawmakers are all crucial links in sible when women share their stories. Once the conversa- the chain of change. tion is started and the problem named, the possibilities The links between narratives and social change are for social change emerge. complicated. Peace and reconciliation are possible when Many stories reveal women as victims, oppressed and stories are compelling and the audience is alert, empa- beaten down by systems that they did not construct and thetic, and moved to action. Ending confl ict is not an that hold them powerless. We cannot ignore the horrors impossible dream as long as stories that refl ect both the of war that are visited upon women and children; we realities of war and the possibilities of peace continue cannot avoid the pain of refugees fl eeing their homes to be heard. after watching loved ones tortured or killed. We have to know the suffering to understand the dynamics of the Dr. Rebecca Reviere problem and to be moved to respond. Professor of Sociology and Anthropology But hearing only narratives of pain and suffering can Howard University lead to feelings of despair and powerlessness. It is critical Washington, D.C. CRITICAL HALF 5 In this issue of Critical Half here is a power in telling one’s story, a power in growth. The author, Emiko Noma, illustrates how women allowing raw truth and experience to spill past participating in the Women PeaceMakers Program at Tthe protective walls that we all construct for the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice use their ourselves. Only after these walls have been breached, and narratives to provide context and understanding of the our stories echo out beyond our control, can we begin gender-based violence that has historically been a byprod- to understand that power. When the women of Bosnia uct of war and to help women rebuild their communities and Herzegovina and Rwanda told their stories about after violent confl ict. the rapes they survived during their countries’ wars, the The next two articles in this issue discuss how women International Criminal Court, for the fi rst time, declared can use the power of their narratives to transform their rape to be a war crime. When the Congolese women par- identities as victims into active agents for peace-building. ticipating in Women for Women International’s program “Women Building Peace: The Liberian Women’s Peace told their stories of war atrocities on The Oprah Winfrey Movement” provides rich data regarding how women Show, tens of thousands of people reacted and took ac- in Liberia used narratives to create peace after Liberia’s tion. I remember sitting with Nabito, one of the women 1989–2003 confl icts. In this piece, Erica Sewell shares featured on that episode of the Oprah show. Nabito’s provocative stories that she gathered from in-depth inter- story was horrifying, and I choked back the tears as she views in Monrovia, Liberia, detailing how these women retold me of the abuse she suffered. I looked at Nabito refused to be regarded merely as passive victims and used and asked her what I should do with her story. Normally I their life stories to become community leaders helping to tell the world about the injustices that I hear from women create peace after a devastating war. Then, in “Women’s survivors of wars. Nabito looked at me and said that I Truth Narratives: The Power of Compassionate Listen- could