The Women and Peace Hypothesis in Peacebuilding Settings : Attitudes of Women in the Wake of the Rwandan Genocide

At the microlevel, the “women and peace” hypothesis suggests that women hold more pacific or compromising attitudes than men. Previous empirical studies of this hypothesis have focused on war-waging settings; this article is the first to bring the women and peace hypothesis to the peacebuilding phase. When studying the hypothesis after war, this article argues that the postconflict context, and especially war-related trauma, must be taken into account. Given that war affects women and men differently, there may be important gender differences in attitudes related to peacebuilding. To test this argument, data from a multistage, stratified cluster random survey of 1,200 Rwandans was analyzed, focusing on the connection between war-related psychological ill health and attitudes toward three issues of relevance for peacebuilding: trust, coexistence, and the gacaca (the Rwandan peacebuilding process). The results demonstrate that women reported significantly more negative attitudes than men toward all three issues. The article also suggests that this surprising finding may result from the different types and levels of trauma women and men experience in war: more men are killed, and more women are subjected to sexual violence. As more women are left to survive the atrocities of war, they may carry a heavier burden of war-related memories in their bodies and minds, leading to greater challenges in the peacebuilding and, often, truth-telling phase. In addition, higher levels of abuse against women in the postconflict phase may require continuing vigilance and anxiety. The article concludes by sketching out areas for future research investigating the important yet counterintuitive findings presented here

Rethinking Reconciliation : Concepts, Methods, and an Empirical Study of Truth Telling and Psychological Health in Rwanda

This dissertation combines psychology with peace and conflict research in a cross-disciplinary approach to reconciliation processes after intrastate armed conflict. Two overarching contributions are made to the field of reconciliation research. The first is conceptual and methodological. The vague concept of reconciliation is defined and operationalized (Paper I), and a method is proposed for how reconciliation may be studied systematically at the national level (Paper II). By discussing what reconciliation is and how we should measure it, comparative research on reconciliation is facilitated which is imperative if we wish to learn of its promises and pitfalls in post-conflict peacebuilding. The second contribution is empirical. There has been an assumption that truth telling is healing and thereby will lead to reconciliation; healing is the assumed link between truth and reconciliation. This assumption was investigated in two studies in Rwanda in 2006. A multistage, stratified cluster random survey of 1,200 adults was conducted to assess whether witnessing in the gacaca, the Rwandan village tribunals for truth and reconciliation, was beneficial for psychological health; thereby investigating the claim that truth telling is healing (Paper III). The results of the survey are disconcerting. Witnesses in the gacaca suffered from significantly higher levels of depression and posttraumatic stress disorder than non-witnesses also when controlling for important predictors for psychological ill-health such as gender or trauma exposure. To acquire a more comprehensive understanding of the experience of witnessing in the gacaca, in-depth interviews were conducted with 16 women genocide survivors who had witnessed in the gacaca (Paper IV). The results of this study challenge the claim that truth telling is healing, suggesting instead that there are risks for the individuals on whom truth-telling processes depend. Traumatization, ill-health, isolation, and insecurity dominate the lives of the testifying women. Insecurity as a result of the truth-telling process emerged as one of the most crucial issues at stake. This dissertation presents a novel understanding of the complexity of reconciliation in post-conflict peacebuilding, demonstrating that truth and reconciliation processes may entail more risks than were previously known. The results of this dissertation can be used to improve the study and the design of truth and reconciliation processes after civil war and genocide

Reconciliation and Development

Reconciliation has become an important part of postconflict peacebuilding rhetoric and practice in recent years. As nearly all conflicts today are intrastate, former enemies, perpetrators and victims, must continue living side by side after the war. Yet, attitudes and behaviors do not change at the moment of declaration of peace. The aim of this background study is to give a shared point of departure for discussion on the critical issues of reconciliatio nand developmet after war. [FES]reconciliation, development, war, peace, peacebuilding, security, violence

The Women and Peace Hypothesis in Peacebuilding Settings : Attitudes of Women in the Wake of the Rwandan Genocide

At the microlevel, the “women and peace” hypothesis suggests that women hold more pacific or compromising attitudes than men. Previous empirical studies of this hypothesis have focused on war-waging settings; this article is the first to bring the women and peace hypothesis to the peacebuilding phase. When studying the hypothesis after war, this article argues that the postconflict context, and especially war-related trauma, must be taken into account. Given that war affects women and men differently, there may be important gender differences in attitudes related to peacebuilding. To test this argument, data from a multistage, stratified cluster random survey of 1,200 Rwandans was analyzed, focusing on the connection between war-related psychological ill health and attitudes toward three issues of relevance for peacebuilding: trust, coexistence, and the gacaca (the Rwandan peacebuilding process). The results demonstrate that women reported significantly more negative attitudes than men toward all three issues. The article also suggests that this surprising finding may result from the different types and levels of trauma women and men experience in war: more men are killed, and more women are subjected to sexual violence. As more women are left to survive the atrocities of war, they may carry a heavier burden of war-related memories in their bodies and minds, leading to greater challenges in the peacebuilding and, often, truth-telling phase. In addition, higher levels of abuse against women in the postconflict phase may require continuing vigilance and anxiety. The article concludes by sketching out areas for future research investigating the important yet counterintuitive findings presented here

The Trauma of Truth Telling: Effects of Witnessing in the Rwandan Gacaca Courts on Psychological Health

Truth telling has come to play a pivotal role in postconflict reconciliation processes around the world. A common claim is that truth telling is healing and will lead to reconciliation. The present study applies recent psychological research to this issue by examining whether witnessing in the gacaca, the Rwandan village tribunals for truth and reconciliation after the 1994 genocide, was beneficial for psychological health. The results from the multistage, stratified cluster random survey of 1,200 Rwandans demonstrate that gacaca witnesses suffer from higher levels of depression and PTSD than do nonwitnesses, also when controlling for important predictors of psychological ill health. Furthermore, longer exposure to truth telling has not lowered the levels of psychological ill health, nor has the prevalence of depression and PTSD decreased over time. This study strongly challenges the claim that truth telling is healing and presents a novel understanding of the complexity of truth-telling processes in postconflict peace building.truth commissions; truth telling; reconciliation; witnessing; PTSD; depression; Rwanda

Honor and Political Violence : Micro-level findings from a Survey in Thailand

Who participates in political violence? In this study, we investigate the issue at the micro-level, comparing individuals who have used violence in political uprising with those who have not. We develop our argument from the observation that men are strongly overrepresented in political violence, although most men do not participate. Literature on masculinities emphasizes the role of honor and its links to different forms of violence, such as domestic abuse, criminal violence, and violent attitudes. Building on this literature, we discern two separate but related aspects of honor: honor as male societal privilege and control over female sexuality, i.e., patriarchal values, and honor as ideals of masculine toughness, i.e., the perceived necessity for men to be fierce and respond to affronts with violence or threats of violence in order to preserve status. We argue that patriarchal values combined with ideals of masculine toughness together constitute honor ideology, which contributes in turn to the explanation of who participates in political violence. We present new and unique individual-level survey data on these issues, collected in Thailand. We find that honor ideology strongly and robustly predicts a higher likelihood of participating in political violence among male political activists. A number of previous studies find a macro-level relationship between gender equality and peacefulness in a society. This study provides evidence for one micro-level mechanism linking gender equality and political violence at the macro-level. Based on these results, we conclude that honor ideology endorsement is a driver of violence in political conflicts.The East Asian Peace Progra

Violent Boyhoods, Masculine Honor Ideology, and Political Violence : Survey Findings From Thailand

Throughout history, those who have participated in political violence have predominantly been male young adults. At the same time, we know that most young men will not use violence for political protest. So what distinguishes those who do from those who do not? In this article, we link psychological research on the intergenerational effects of violence in the family to violence in the political arena. We ask to what extent experiences of violence as a child are associated with participation in political violence as an adult. Our overarching argument is that family-of-origin violence may not only have serious negative, intergenerational effects on health and well-being but also on future spirals of violence for the individual. Family-of-origin violence may also lead to an increased risk of using violence for political purposes due to the diffusion of violence norms, whereby violence is seen as a just and appropriate response to conflict. We test this claim using micro-level data from the Survey on Gender, Politics, and Violence in Thailand, conducted in 2012-2013. For our analyses, we zoom in on men from a specific cluster sample of the survey: 200 political activist intervieweesâ\u80\u94100 Red Shirts and 100 Yellow Shirts. The results support our claim. We find that experiences of family violence as a child increase the risk of participating in political violence as an adult among male political activists in Thailand. Our study suggests one imperative policy implication: Violence prevention measures at the individual levelâ\u80\u94against corporal punishment of children or violence against womenâ\u80\u94may have critical implications also for decreasing the risk for and prevalence of political violence and armed conflict in society