Mats Utas (Coordinator), Chris Coulter, Mariam Persson (Bjarnesen), Maria Eriksson Baez, Fanny Rudén
Funded by the Nordic Africa Institute
My interest in not just looking at women as victims of war originated from my PhD fieldwork in Liberia (1997-98). In the Liberian civil war, there were female rank-and-file soldiers and some well-known female commanders in the rebel groups. In general, Liberian women refused to play the victim role and often stated that they were more active than men during the war years. In particular, the story of one woman, whom I have called Bintu, stood out; she had spent time in prison and endured torture and sexual violence, yet still, her story also contained instances where she was the abuser and when she took an active role on the same side as her abusers in the conflict. The story contained a complexity I had previously not seen in the literature on women in wars. I published two partly overlapping articles from this material.
Agency of Victims: young women’s survival strategies in the Liberian Civil War, In Makers and Breakers: Children and Youth as Emerging Categories in Postcolonial Africa / [ed] Alcinda Honwana and Filip de Boeck, Oxford: James Currey, 2005
Victimcy, Girlfriending, Soldiering: Tactic Agency in a Young Woman’s Social Navigation of the Liberian War Zone. In Anthropological Quarterly 78(2), 2005: 403- 430
My slightly odd creation of the term “victimcy” has since travelled far, and the latter article is my most cited text. In a more recent article, I have discussed the research process in this work and added some thoughts about how I would have done differently today:
Research Brokers We Use and Abuse while Researching Civil Wars and Their Aftermaths – Methodological Concerns. Civil Wars, 21(2), 271–285.
With these articles I got involved in broader discussions about women in wars and together with colleagues, Chris Coulter, Mariam Persson (now Bjarnesen) and later Maria Eriksson Baaz I started a project focusing on policy:
Women are both victims and perpetrators in African wars. This policy project has aimed at unraveling some of the complexities of young female livelihoods and survival during the difficult times of civil wars. The participants in this project have specific research experience studying young women in African wars leading to conclusions going well beyond the ordinary. Drawing on research the intention with the project is to provide policy makers and aid practitioners with state-of-the-art overviews of the situation for young women in African war and post-war situations as well as giving recommendations in order to enhance efficient aid to young women in these fragile situations.
The Nordic Africa Institute published five policy publications: A shorter overview of young women (2007) and a longer one with focus on young female fighters (2008), both authored by Chris Coulter, Mariam Persson and Mats Utas; A policy note on sexual exploitation and abuse by peacekeeping missions (2009) by Fanny Rúden and Mats Utas; a longer study on survivors of sexual abuse and local means of trauma healing (2009) by Mats Utas; and finally about gender and SSR (2012) by Mats Utas and Maria Eriksson Baaz.
Beyond ”Gender and Stir”: Reflections on gender and SSR in the aftermath of African conflicts
Sexual exploitation and abuse by peacekeeping operations in contemporary Africa
Young female fighters in African wars: conflict and its consequences