Women and Peace through Justice
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Local/Global Encounters
Women and Peace through Justice
SANAM NARAGHIANDERLINI
ABSTRACT Sanam Naraghi-Anderlini reflects on the experiences of women who have survived war and its atrocities and are working for peace and a social reconstruction process. She argues that indictment of war criminals alone does not address the immediate and longterm needs of the maimed and the raped, the orphans and the AIDS carriers. Justice can include reparations or support and care, access to health care and education, opportunities to become skilled and employed. But at the very minimum it means living free of discrimination and ostracism, beyond their victimhood, and having the right to a dignified life. KEYWORDS violence against women; ‘transitional justice’; ‘retributive’ justice; ‘courtroom justice’; sustainable peace
Introduction ‘What kind of peace do we have if the men who raped and killed women now sit in the government?’ Claudine, a Congolese peace activist asked the question at the start of a workshop on transitional justice I was facilitating in 2003. Among the group of women peace activists ^ a Palestinian, a Bosnian, a Colombian and a Kosovar, a Rwandan, a Guatemalan and a Burundian ^ her words resonated deeply. Drawing on their experiences, some personal, others based on their work and interactions with women in their communities, the group was well aware of the complexity and sensitivity of the issues they were addressing. For those who had been victims themselves, the yearning for justice was palpable, not because they sought revenge, but because the experiences they had never really went away. ‘The memories come back in waves,’ said one woman. Yet they had learnt to put aside their personal emotions to address the issues more broadly. On the one hand, political pragmatism was a driving force they were familiar with ^ better to give blanket amnesties to end the war and tolerate the impunity ^ than to watch the violence go on. On the other hand, they all agreed, ending impunity and bringing accountability for crimes committed during war was a means of not only bringing justice, but also helping to end the cycle of violence based on revenge and retribution. In other words, they argued, true peace is possible and sustainable only if there is justice. But in the context of modern wars, where an estimated 90 per cent of casualties are civilians, where women are systematically targeted with all forms of sexual abuse, and children are abducted and forced to murder and maim and yet, where victims and perpetrators have to live side by side again after the war, justice takes on multiple dimensions. Development (2005) 48(3), 103–110. doi:10.1057/palgrave.development.1100154
Development 48(3): Local/Global Encounters Transitional justice Transitional justice is the term used to describe temporary judicial and sometimes non-judicial mechanisms developed to address the legacy of war or dictatorial rule. Transitional justice has become a key pillar of the international community’s post-conflict reconstruction framework. In the
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