Friends
Here is another study again done by individuals that believe that we have a
serious violence problem in Uganda. Let me remind you that this study does not
say anywhere that NRA commited these crimes it says LRA committed them. And
that is what I am trying to point out here that if an Acholi can treat his
fellow Acholi this way, how about you on a road block in Kawempe? This study
was made by Martha Bragin, MD and Taaka Jennipher, MA as the principle
investigators. They were financed by The Austrian Development corporation,
under the Care umbrella. The topic of the study is called “Conflict-Affected
Women’s perceptions of Psychosocial Well-Being in The Acholi sub –region of
Northern Uganda” Friends Austrians do not hate Acholi and they are not out
there to plant tribe hate they ae simply using the data they found in
Acholi-land to get this concerned.
We are posting from page 25
The Psychological and Social Situation of Formerly Abducted Girls
Both girls and boys held captive by the LRA experienced extreme hardship that
included their forced participation in atrocities as combatants (Akello, 2006;
Betancourt, 2008; Blattman & Annan, 2007; Bolton et al., 2007; Kryger, 2011;
Kryger & Lindgren, 2011; Machel, 2000; Omona & Matheson, 1998; McCarthy &
Marks, 2010; Mendelsohn, 1998; Pedersen, 2002; Pham et al., 2007; Stichick,
2001; Wessells, 2004). They equally lacked shelter, food, accessibility to
medical care and education (Akello, 2006; Annan et al., 2010; Barton & Mutiti,
1998; Blattman & Annan, 2007; Machel, 2000; MacMullin & Loughry, 2004).
However, girls’ experiences were particularly calamitous due to gender-based
violence (Amnesty International, 2007; Annan et al., 2008; Fox, 2004; McKay &
Mazurana, 2004; Orach, 2009). Girls were often subjected to sexual abuse by
multiple perpetrators (Mazurana & McKay, 2003; Wood, 2009). They were also
forcibly “married” to captors who had many wives and pregnancy could exacerbate
violence. Girl mothers would often carry their babies on their backs during
warfare. A common practice was to drug the babies, in order to sedate them
during the fighting. While many girls died during pregnancy and childbirth due
to lack of medical care and difficult circumstances under which they were
living, others self-induced abortions to spare their children the suffering
into which they would be born. (Annan et al., 2008, in press; Baines, 2008;
Pham et al., 2007; McKay, 2004; McKay & Mazurana, 2004).
Girls, who eventually escaped or were rescued from their captivity in the bush,
often did not go through the official UN protocol of disarmament,
demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) (McKay, 2004; Mazurana et al., 2002;
McKay & Mazurana, 2004). This process entails demobilizing soldiers, removing
their guns, and providing psychological and material assistance to
ex-combatants to help them return to their civilian way of life (Baines, 2008;
Betancourt, 2009; McKay, 2004). Although girls and boys were equally entitled
to DDR by law, many girls were not afforded the benefits of this formal
process. Instead, they simply returned to impoverished communities without any
intervening support. With few resources or support available to them, these
girls often relocate to locations where family members and friends live, or
they move to urban areas where they are at a much higher risk of being forced
into prostitution, experience sexual assault, and contract sexually transmitted
diseases, such as HIV (Amnesty International, 2007; Baines, 2008; McKay, 2005).
Additional difficulties ensue, even when young, formerly abducted girls and
women attempt to participate in formal demobilization programs (Amnesty
International, 2007; Baines, 2008; Mazurana et al., 2002; McKay & Mazurana,
2004). DDR in many war-torn regions has targeted boys and men while
disregarding the roles girls and women have played as combatants in fighting
forces. McKay and Mazurana (2004) note that there is a gender-discriminatory
framework at play, which perpetuates the view that girls and women only served
as “sex slaves,” “wives,” and “camp followers” while in the bush. They are
therefore not eligible for the skills training and schooling made available to
male ex-combatants, as part of the DDR process, despite evidence that they had
in fact fought alongside men and boys who committed the same acts (McKay &
Mazurana, 2004). This parallels similar difficulties among other girls in the
region, and should not be seen as an isolated problem. Even when the rigorous
use of traditional ceremonies are designed to promote community acceptance,
girls and young women continue to be viewed suspiciously, and with contempt, by
their family members and neighbors (Akello, 2006; Amnesty International, 2007;
Annan et al., 2008; Baines, 2008; Mazurana & McKay, 2004; UNICEF, 2005).
The literature also indicates that girl mothers face particular challenges in
providing for themselves and their children, due to a lack of education and
resources (Annan et al., 2008; McKay & Mazurana, 2004). Again, despite
participation in reintegration ceremonies, girl mothers in Northern Uganda face
rejection by former husbands, and with their children are often threatened and
abused by family and community members (Annan et al., 2008; Mazurana & McKay,
2004). In order to avoid threats and potential re-abduction by the LRA and
their captor “husbands,” girl mothers often move to distant communities and
avoid living or associating themselves with other girl mothers to avoid
negative attention. Yet by living in isolation, these mothers are prone to
depression and feelings of hopelessness (Annan et al., 2009; Betancourt & Khan,
2008).
Other studies indicate that formerly abducted girls and women exhibit
difficulty in abiding by the cultural norms and gender-specific roles of their
communities after having lived as combatants in the bush for extended periods
of time. Some may then be prone to violent outbursts. These psychological
symptoms are also cited as a source of difficulty in achieving acceptance as
members within their communities (Annan et al., 2008; Baines, 2008; Kryger,
2011; Mazurana et al., 2002; McKay, 2004; McKay & Mazurana, 2004; Vinck et al.,
2007).
A recently published study focusing exclusively on women and girls returning
from LRA captivity however challenged these notions in the years following the
amnesty and return of the population from the IDP camps (Annan et al., 2011).
The study noted the tendency toward psychosocial resilience among these women
and girls, especially amongst those who returned as mothers, specifically
contradicting earlier findings. The study points out that one factor not
studied or considered, is that those who were unable to find correlates to
resilience, may have died or been killed in captivity and that the capacity for
survival itself should be understood. Still that does not explain the
relatively positive coping shown by the populations in the intervening years
between 2008 and the present study.
Participants of the study were asked to define economic well-being as well as
psychological and social difficulties. The study did not look at the
effectiveness of the various psychosocial programs in which the formerly
abducted may have participated and therefore stopped short of developing
specific indicators for psychosocial well-being, leaving them for future
studies such as this one.
These may be significant as they may help to account for the relatively
positive findings only four years after the more negative ones.
Stay in the forum for Series fifty-one on the way ------>
EM
On the 49th Parallel
Thé Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni, Ssabassajja and Dr. Kiiza Besigye, Uganda is in anarchy"
Kuungana Mulindwa Mawasiliano Kikundi
"Pamoja na Yoweri Museveni, Ssabassajja na Dk. Kiiza Besigye, Uganda ni katika
machafuko"
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