Women and conflict transformation in Africa

Abstract

Contemporary conflicts have a multi-dimensional impact on gender relations, affecting men and women at different levels. The relationship between women and war is complex, delicate and contradictory. War and armed conflict destroy all facets of human life, which has a painful impact on women’s lives as survivors, victims and peace builders. Despite all this, women in Africa have organised themselves in their communities at national and regional levels in the search for peace. They put their lives at risk day after day in order to maintain their families and communities, participating in reconstruction projects, providing medical care and organising solidarity networks across ethnic, cultural and class boundaries. Through women we see alternative ways of building peace, such as resistance to war through public demonstrations and civil disobedience, using local strategies such as stripping off clothes as a sign of protest, educating each other on how to survive, and writing and publishing the horrors of war as a strategy of conflict transformation. They also lobby for ceasefires and put pressure on opposing factions to reach peace agreements.

Keywords

• transformación de conflictos
• construcción de paz
• constructoras de paz
• víctimas
• estrategias locales
• movilización
• reconciliación