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Women Survivors, Lost Children and Traumatized Masculinities

An ethnographic focus on sexual violence in the context of war in South Kivu Province, Democratic Republic of Congo

Jill Trenholm RN PhD International Maternal and Child Healthand the Centre for Gender ResearchUppsala University Uppsala Sweden

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To explore the phenomena of war rape and its consequences in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo

To generate practical and theoretical knowledge relevant for prevention, sustainable health and humanitarian interventions.

PhD Study’s Overall Aim

Aim J. Trenholm

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Background

• Misogyny

• Women’s body as symbol of honor/nation

• Nature of warfare

• Military culture

• Atmosphere of impunity

• Intimidation/survival looting

Background J. Trenholm

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Impact: Multiple burdens• mental/physical

trauma• HIV, infertility,

unwanted pregnancy etc...

• stigma/marginalisation• impaired caring

capacity• livelihood• malnutrition• lack of health care

J. TrenholmRelevance

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Country context

Context J. Trenholm

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Study site

Context J. Trenholm

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8Methodology J. Trenholm

Ethnography

• Prolonged engagement at the study site• Informants/gatekeepers are key• Participant observation:

– flexible immersion into the environment– interacting formally & informally with a variety of

people

• Qualitative semi-structured interviews • Field notes (documentation & reflexivity)

Overview of the Papers

Participants Objective Analysis

Paper IPublished: Global

Public Health

10 local leaders

interviews

To explore local leaders perceptions and attitudes towards rape and raped women.

Qualitative Content Analysis

Paper IIPublished: Men and

Masculinities

12 ex-child soldier boys

interviews

To explore ex-child soldiers’ experiences of war & sexual violence.

Thematicanalysis

Paper III Published: Gender, Place and Culture: a Journal of Feminist

Geography

15 affected women interviews/narratives

To illuminate women’s and girls’ experiences of war & sexual violence.

Situating suffering in the global context

Thematicanalysis

Paper IVsubmitted

15 affected women interviews/narratives

To illuminate women’s and girls’ experiences of war & sexual violence.

Resilience in the margins

Thematic analysis

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J. Trenholm

Jill Trenholm Uppsala University 2008

pregnancy HIV-STI’s, fear

traumatization

military cultures

chaos of wardefunct infrastructure

insecurity-impunity-corruption

poverty

inappropriate aid

global political economy

international apathy

women’s low statuspatriarchy-church-culture

rejection

Emergent Conceptualisation

Local Leaders Study

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Theoretical Frames

• ”New wars” (Kaldor, 2006)

• Gender constructions (Lorber, 2005)

– Power differentials– Militarised masculinity (Enloe,2000)

• Intersectionality (Crenshaw, 1991)

• Structural violence (Galtung,1971, Farmer, 2004)

• Sites of resilience (Payne, 2006)

J. TrenholmConcepts

12Ethics J. Trenholm

Ethical Concerns

• Sensitivity of subject matter

• Security of participants and research team• Potential re-traumatisation (back-up in place)

• Research fatigue

Guided by Ethical Treatment of Human subjects (NIH/ WMA)

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Affected Women

• Overarching theme: Insecurity

Subthemes:• Profound Dispossession: Multiple

burdens, multiple losses• Impregnated by rape: the

magnified burden• Survival strategies: God, HIV

testing, survival sex• Making sense of sexual violation

and the perpetrators

Results J.Trenholm

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Ex-Child Soldier Boys• Who wants to go to war?

• Inculcating captive obedience

• Indigenous healing: making fearless soldiers

• Substance abuse: an anesthetising disconnect

• Constructing non-reflective ”mask-culinity”

• Power: Guns, uniforms and intimidation

• Sexual violence: domination and bonding

• Impregnated: women’s shame and soldiers indifference

Results J.Trenholm

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Recap’ of Results

• Local leaders expressed a very complex understanding of the phenomena of rape but felt they lacked sufficient power to address the situation.

• Affected women suffered a profound dispossesion of security, identity, health, space/place and material basics, often with a child born of the rape.

• Marginalised young men’s circumstances led them into a

militarised masculine world pre-empting a life course trajectory, common to their context.

Results J.Trenholm

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How do people survive?

• Resilience in the margins– God and Faith– Health care– Indigenous healers– Small business, prostitution, banditry etc.

• Payne’s Sites of resilience model (2011)– emphasizes lived experiences and a broader perspective

• Identifying sites of resilience is key.

Synthesis J. Trenholm

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Concluding Remarks (1 of 3)

Rape and it consequences are a result of– a multitude of intersecting factors – deeply embedded in social practices and

power structures from local to global– cannot be addressed in isolation

Sexual violence is not exclusively a Congo problem but a global one

J.TrenholmConclusion

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Sites of resilience are key

– strengthening and coordination of networks: health services, religious organisations and indigenous practices

– focus on holistic care

Mass traumatization– innovative approaches tailored to entire

communities– sustainable at village level

Concluding Remarks (2 of 3)

J.TrenholmConclusion

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Concluding Remarks (3 of 3)

Focus on perpetrator – a more complex view– the role of gender, ethnicity and class

Critical analysis of how raw materials are sourced for the global market

Efforts towards peace, justice and poverty reduction must be concommittant goals

Conclusion J.Trenholm

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Thank-you for your attention

J.Trenholm

Extra slides

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Useful Websites in support of Congo

• http://www.enoughproject.org/

• http://www.congocalling.org/

• http://www.unwatchable.cc/

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Local Leaders

Results J.Trenholm

J. Trenholm

Can indigenous healers be a local resource for dealing with mass trauma and its consequences?

http://www.afro.who.int/note_press/2003/pr20031009.html

Battles on Women’s BodiesWar, rape and traumatisation in eastern Democratic Republic of

CongoInterviews with local leaders

J. E. Trenholm RN BA MSc , P. Olsson RNMT PhD, B.M. Ahlberg PhDDepartment of Women’s and Children’s Health

International Maternal and Child Health & the Centre for Gender ResearchUppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

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Publications1. Battles on women's bodies: war, rape and traumatisation

in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Trenholm JE, Olsson P, Ahlberg BM. Glob Public Health. 2011;6(2):139-52.

2. Constructing Soldiers from Boys in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Trenholm JE, Olsson P, Blomqvist M, Ahlberg BM. Men and Masculinities. (2012). available online.

3. The Global, Ethnic and Gendered War; Women and rape in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Trenholm J., Olsson P., Blomqvist M. & Maina Ahlberg B. Gender, Place and Culture. (2014) available online.

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Local Leaders Interview Study

• Mass traumatization: ”A people dispossessed

• ”The unfortunate life” of a woman: the target has no value

• Who cares? International apathy & inappropriate aid

• ”Caught between a rock and a hard place”: The Church’s support vs the silence

• ”The selling of another’s pain is inhumane”

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•Military culture of violenceand its intersections with constructions of maculinity: militarised masculinity (Enloe)

•The rationalisation/normalisation of rape

•The role of poverty/lack of basics

•The destruction of the family unit and the impact on the development of the child

Ex-Child Soldiers Interviews

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Constructing Soldiers from Children

polity.org.za

1. Who wants to go to war?

2. Inculcating captive obedience

3. Indigenous healing: making fearless soldiers

4. Substance abuse: an anesthetising disconnect

5. Constructing ”mask-culinity”

6. Gun Power

7. Living on the edge: no reflection

8. Sexual violence: domination and bonding

9. Impregnated: women’s shame and soldiers indifference

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The Women’s Interview Study

• Participants: 15 affected women from diverse backgrounds Recruited from local hospital and re-integration facilities

• Method: 11 Formal semi-structured interviews, 35-70 minutes 4 written narratives Embedded caretakers used as multilingual translators

• Data Collection: approx 8 hours audio recorded 4 narratives 150 plus pages of text transcribed into English

• Theoretical Framework: Structural violence (Galtung 1971/ Farmer 2004) Intersectionality (Crenshaw 1991)

• Analysis: Continuous in ethnography Thematic analysis for formal interviews

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Findings: Women’s Interviews

• Insecurity as the overarching theme

Subthemes:• Profound Dispossession: Multiple burdens, multiple

losses• Impregnated by rape: the magnified burden• Survival strategies: God, HIV testing, survival sex• Making sense of sexual violation and the perpetrators

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kristof.blogs.nytimes.com

www.endingextremepoverty.org

QCA (G & L)

Description

Multiple researchers

Thorough readings

Condensation

Coding

Categorising

Rich data stew

Thematic Analysisexplanatory and interpretive

Multiple researchers

Thorough readings

Seeking patterns, core/central meanings

Rich quotes are highlighted and notes made

Significant passages distilled down to essence

Ideas intuited into groups and abstracted to themes

Thematic mapping

Grounding of claims in data

Rich data stew

The comparison

QCA• Creative• Descriptive• Reading• Less theoretical• Exclusive categories• Basic recipe

Thematic Analysis• Creative• Interpretive/Explanatory• Reading• Constant comparison• Theorising• Distinctive themes• Building models,

concepts, recipes