De Maio
Women and Conflict Management in West Africa
8
and are frequently the target of violence. Children under the age of fifteen are recruited as
soldiers, often forcibly; women are tortured and raped; and civilians are forced to flee, suffer
amputations, and are executed at will.
Women, however, have not simply been victims. During the independence period, they
actively participated in conflicts, such as the liberation struggles in Mozambique, Namibia,
Zimbabwe and the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. In some cases, women’s groups
offered their support in exchange for guarantees of increased access to political power in the
post-war period, as in Uganda (Olonisakin 2001). Women also number among the protagonists
(though fewer in numbers) of Africa’s post Cold War civil conflicts and female combatants are
reported to have committed atrocities with an intensity that almost paralleled that of their male
counterparts (Olonisakin 2001). Each conflict situation had its own dynamics. Some women
have voluntarily taken up arms; others have provided various forms of support to leaders of
warring factions in the hope that this would yield rewards in the post-settlement phase
(Olonisakin 2001).
Africa’s civil conflicts have altered gender relations in many respects. For example,
women seem to move from the private, i.e. domestic, sphere to the public. Women there take on
greater responsibility in economic, social, and political situations. A backlash often occurs,
however, when women return to the domestic sphere as power returns to the public civilian
sphere. Kumar writes:
“intrastate conflicts profoundly later the social, economic, and political status,
roles, and responsibilities of women and alter their relations with men… intrastate
conflict also creates an opportunity for change because it is so pervasive and
disrupts the very fabric of social life through the targeting of civilians and
livelihoods and through displacement. Although imposing severe hardships and
deprivation, conflict also provides space for gender equality and can pave the way
for women’s empowerment in the social, economic, and political life in their
countries” (Kumar 2000: Draft Paper).
Convention