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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Susan McKay, RN, PhD, Women's Studies, University of Wyoming, P.O. 4297, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071, 307 742 4440, McKay@uwyo.edu
The question “Where are the girls?” is infrequently asked about children or adolescents in armed forces, whether combatants or noncombatants. The focus, instead, is on child soldiers who are usually considered to be boys. As a result, girls’ distinct and gender-specific experiences and human rights violations have been overlooked in initiatives to help war-affected children demobilize and reintegrate back into their communities. Few organizations have established programs explicitly for girls in fighting forces, whether recruited or abducted. Consequently, throughout the world, these girls receive little support for rehabilitation and reintegration back into their communities. The aftermath can be lives of poverty, social isolation, and physical and psychosocial distress.
When girls escape from fighting forces to return home or are formally or informally demobilized, they cope with gender-specific physical and psychosocial effects.They may face ostracism both from their families and communities because of forced sex and maternity associated with their roles as soldiers’ “wives.” How communities respond to these girls varies according to cultural practices and societal norms. Utilizing data from community-based field work conducted during 2001-2002 in Mozambique, Uganda, and Sierra Leone, this presentation discusses girls’ reintegration into communities within three war-affected African countries.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Gender, War
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: none
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.