Where are the Unmarried Women? The Impact of Truth Commissions on Post-Conflict Gender Relations

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dc.contributorFernandez-Anderson, Cora
dc.contributorRemmler, Karen
dc.contributor.advisorReiter, Andrew G.
dc.contributor.authorFishman, Emma
dc.date.accessioned2017-05-08T14:25:53Z
dc.date.available2017-05-08T14:25:53Z
dc.date.gradyear2017en_US
dc.date.issued2017-05-08
dc.description.abstractA recent trend in the field of transitional justice has been the inclusion of a gendered perspective to ensure that women’s experiences during war are addressed effectively. For truth commissions in particular, this has meant implementing various gender-sensitive protocols such as women- only hearings for victims to testify about experiences of sexual violence, as well as chapters in final reports dedicated to the experiences of women during conflict. The Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) is considered to be a successful example of how to address the needs and experiences of women. Yet despite a number of comprehensive recommendations and extensive research into the pre-existing social inequalities that contributed to the wartime experiences of Sierra Leonean women, progress towards gender equality since the commission has been slow. My research explores how the almost singular portrayal of Sierra Leonean women as passive victims of sexual violence has reproduced previous notions of gender roles, and in turn hindered progress. By tracing legal trends and narratives of womanhood in popular Sierra Leonean culture, I assess the impact that the TRC has had on the lives of women, and identify missed opportunities. I draw larger connections through an analysis of five other truth commissions from around the world: Liberia, Ghana, Peru, East Timor, and Guatemala. I argue that in order for truth commissions to have a lasting impact on women’s lives post-conflict, their reports must include more diverse narratives of women’s experiences of war—narratives that go beyond a singular portrayal of women as victims of sexual violence. This thesis contributes to the existing literature on transitional justice by demonstrating the damaging impact of these essentialized narratives.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipPoliticsen_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10166/4016
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.rights.restrictedpublicen_US
dc.subjectTransitional Justiceen_US
dc.subjectTruth Commissionsen_US
dc.subjectGenderen_US
dc.subjectPost-Conflict Studiesen_US
dc.subjectSierra Leoneen_US
dc.subjectComparative Politicsen_US
dc.titleWhere are the Unmarried Women? The Impact of Truth Commissions on Post-Conflict Gender Relationsen_US
dc.typeThesis
mhc.degreeUndergraduateen_US
mhc.institutionMount Holyoke College

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