The Legacy of Three Conflicts in Zimbabwe-Traumas and missed opportunities

The study analyses three major conflicts in Zimbabwe during the past forty years through a filter of theoretical models. The study relies on secondary material in the form of articles, books and research reports. The causes of the conflicts, the traumas developed through the conflicts and reconciliation efforts at the end of the conflicts are analyzed. It shows that Zimbabwe is a traumatized nation where reconciliation has taken the form of amnesia and impunity. This has created unattended massive traumas which through the concepts of chosen traumas has been triggering new conflicts. In the recently signed APG document, national healing has been agreed to, and will cover all three conflicts analyzed in this paper. However such a healing process must be part of a broad reconciliation process to reach sustainable peace

Women's Struggle in Finding Truth - A comparative study of the South African TRC and Rwandan Gacacas

The role of women in post-conflict countries in Africa has always been less prioritised when working for reconciliation. Our aim in this thesis is to compare how the gacacas in Rwanda and TRC´s in South Africa treated the suffering of, and justice for women and what healing processes were put in place to help them. Truth Commissions are a form of reconciliation theory which will be further analysed in this thesis in order to investigate the participation and treatment of women in these two countries. When comparing them we have found that the truth commissions are in fact gender-biased. South African and Rwandan women were less prioritised than men in the treatment during truth commissions to find justice for their suffering

A Voice for the Voiceless: Young Women's Leadership Experiences in Zimbabwe

The purpose of the study has been to gain an understanding of how socio-cultural structures and gender norms affect young women’s leadership possibilities. This has been explored through a qualitative case study focusing on how young women leaders, working with sexual and reproductive health rights issues, experience and pursue leadership in Zimbabwe. A theoretical framework based on contextual and relational understandings of women’s leadership and theories of gender relations, intersectionality and body politics was used to analyze the empirical data. The findings revealed that young women leaders have to challenge gender norms and confront negative attitudes as they are perceived as going against women’s expected role in society. In relation to other women leaders within the women’s movement, conflicts between young and older generations were evident. Mentorship and cooperation was seen as main opportunities to facilitate for more young women to pursue leadership. The study’s results showed that young women are put under a lot of pressure in terms of being leaders in an environment that is mainly dominated by men and older women, but also in terms of being role models for other “voiceless” young women