The Graduate Programs in Sustainable International Development. The Heller School for Social Policy and Management. Brandeis University The Gendered effects of Land Conflict: The Case of the Inter-Ethnic Land Conflicts in Mount Elgon District of Western Province in Kenya. Pamela Kimkung A paper submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts Degree In Sustainable International Development Professor Cristina Espinosa Academic Advisor Date 04/25/10115/201 __________________________________________________________________________ Director, Programs in Sustainable International Development Date 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 Abstract-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------4 2.0 Executive Summary------------------------------------------------------------------------------5 3.0 Acknowledgements---------------------------------------------------------------------------------7 4.0 Abbreviation-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------8 5.0 Introduction-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------10 5.1. Definition of the development Question------------------------------------------------10 5.2 Contribution to the Development field--------------------------------------------------10 5.3 Context of Study----------------------------------------------------------------------------12 6.0 Background and Problem Statement-----------------------------------------------------------13 6.1. Geographical Background-------------------------------------------------------------- -12 6.2. Genesis of the conflict-------------------------------------------------------------------14 7.0 Methods---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------16 7.1- secondary Review------------------------------------------------------------------------16 7.2. Personal experience-------------------------------------------------------------------- 17 7.3 Limitations---------------------------------------------------------------------------------17 8.0 Literature Review---------------------------------------------------------------------------------18 8.1 Land Conflict in Kenya: An Overview--------------------------------------------------19 8.2 Historical Background--------------------------------------------------------------------19 8.3 Role of SALW--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 8.3 Effects of Land Conflict in Mt.Elgon-----------------------------------------------------20 8.3.1 Forced Displacement-------------------------------------------------------------------20 8.3.2 Effects of violence on women, men children &other vulnerable groups------------------22 8.3.4 Sexual Violence as a weapon of War--------------------------------------------------------23 8.3.7 International Laws, Resolutions &Conventions--------------------------------------------27 8.5.1 UN Security council Resolution 1325-------------------------------------------------27 8.5.2 The Rome Statute------------------------------------------------------------------------27 8.5.3OHCHR-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2 8.5.4-CEDAW-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------28 8.5.6-TJRC--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------29 9.0 Findings and Substantive Discussion---------------------------------------------------------30 9.1 Gendered impacts of armed conflict----------------------------------------------------30 9.2 What are the effects of the inter-ethnic land conflict on women men& children 34 9.3 What are the socio-economic effects of land inter-ethnic conflict------------------34 9.4 How is sexual violence used as a weapon of war-------------------------------------43 9.5 International Laws and conventions----------------------------------------------------47 10.0 Conclusion &Implications----------------------------------------------------------------------48 11.0 11.0Appendices --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 50 11.1 Questionnaires----------------------------------------------------------------------------50 11.2 Map of Mt.Elgon---------------------------------------------------------------------------52 12.0 List of References-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------53 3 1.0 ABSTRACT Family disintegration during war leaves women and girls especially vulnerable to violence (State of the World‟s children 1996) While men are soldiers and aggressors in armed conflict and women constitute the highest number of civilian casualties, these roles do not tell the whole story. The popular perception about gender roles during armed conflict is that women remain at home to support, nurse and provide other services to the men at war while men go out to fight. But men are also victims of the war. And women‟s bodies become under attack as a way to intimidate the enemy and in the case of ethnic conflicts, to destroy or damage male honor, purity of lineage, kinship structures and ethnic identities. It is worth noting that gender relations that existed before war or conflict are highlighted during this period and that gendered impacts of armed conflict affect men, women and children but differently. Furthermore, impacts of armed conflict are not recognized as violations of human rights especially when they are looked at from a cultural framework where sexual violence is understood as a war weapon .Lack of recognition of these human right violations hinder progress towards enforcing regulations protecting human rights and procuring the attainment of gender equality in times of peace and in times of conflict. This paper identifies the root causes of conflict in Mount Elgon, by analyzing its gendered and the socio-economic effects, and how they affect men, women and children and how sexual violence is used by both the militia/rebels and the government security forces on unarmed civilians. It also highlights government‟s role in exacerbating conflicts. The paper concludes by recommending 1) That the Government must resettle displaced persons so they can resume their disrupted lives, 2) that the land question in Kenya and specifically in Mount Elgon must be addressed in order to build long lasting peace, and 3) that reforms should be carried out within the government security forces especially on how to respect the human rights of the civilians and how to deal with gender equity during conflicts. 4 2.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Since independence, the Land question in Kenya has always been over ownership, titling and unequal distribution. The recurrent conflicts in various parts of Kenya reflect politicization of land ownership and the Government‟s inability or unwillingness to resolve the dispute. The impunity and corruption by government officials, the persistent marginalization of some ethnic groups by the political establishment have always exacerbated the conflict. However, emphasis on land ownership by the Mosop and Soy ethnic groups always overshadow the negative impacts conflicts have on women, children and other vulnerable groups. Land is a very important resource in the lives of most people, an asset and a collateral for securing loans from commercial banks and a means of maintaining identity, social status and feelings of ancestral „belonging‟. This explains the strong emotional attachment to land by the people and the violence used in the land conflict .Given the crucial role land plays in the lives of the residents of Mount Elgon and to a large extend, the nation of Kenya it is therefore important to address issues that lead to conflict over land acquisition and ownership and to mitigate against negative effects that cause conflicts. While conflict causes suffering in all members of the community, gender defines different ways in which men and women experience conflict, for instance; women are subjected to rape and men are usually the targets of both the rebels or the government forces by being detained, sodomized, castrated or killed as was the case in Mount Elgon. Sexual assault on women during war/conflict erodes the fabric of community in a way that few weapons can. Wood (2002) argues that systematic rape is often used as a weapon of war in ethnic cleansing or forced to bear „enemy‟s child‟. Those who become pregnant are ostracized by families and communities, some women abandon babies while others commit suicide. There is a strong communal reaction to the violation and pain stamped on entire families .The harm inflicted through rape is not only an attack on a woman but on her family and culture. But men too are subject to victimization and violence including sexualized violence El Jack (2003) Both men and women suffer war abuses and traumas as well as disruption and loss of resources. The impact of these losses is experienced in different but distinct ways as will be explained in this paper. States and organizations persistently fail to enforce international laws and conventions designed to protect human rights of women and promote gender equality. 5 Governments, NGOs or multilaterals have been slow to tackle the escalation of women‟s human rights abuses particularly during armed conflict (Moser and Clark,2000). There is a need for special training for the security forces to teach them how to handle conflicts without