Vianna Alcantara, Denison University
“From the Ituri Region Refugee Camps: The Continuation of Violence Against Women”
Bio: Vianna Alcantara is a Posse Scholar at Denison University. She is majoring in International Studies and Women's Studies. Vianna studied abroad in Uganda for a semester in 2007. While she was there she had the opportunity to live in a refugee settlement populated mainly by Congolese and Sudanese refugees. Since her sophomore year, Vianna has been interested in the relationship between militarization, patriarchy and sexual violence against women in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Abstract: Militarism and patriarchy have a cyclical relationship in which they support and reinforce one another. This relationship between militarism and patriarchy allows for the continuation of violence after conflict. The research project focuses on the Ituri Conflict in the Ituri region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) from 1999-2007 and its refugee women living in refugee camps mainly in Uganda and Burundi. In the research I challenge the general assumption that violence ends once a conflict is resolved or escaped. I argue that women continue to be targets for battering and sexual violence and exploitation in refugee camps. In these camp settings, peacekeepers, Non-governmental Organization (NGO) workers, refugee and local men have participated in the rape of women and young girls. In the research I also expose the challenges faced by the United Nations Higher Commissioner of Refugees (UNHCR) and NGOs and their reaction to these challenges. In addition, I present some examples of the steps they have taken as a response to the widespread sexual abuse in refugee camps. My conclusion is based on the analysis of primary literary sources by authors such as Cynthia Enloe, Jennifer Turpin, and Cynthia Cockburn among others. Reports by Human Rights Watch, The International Crisis Group and Amnesty International were also analyzed. Finally, newspaper articles reporting on the Ituri Conflict, the condition of refugee camps and the participation of peacekeepers in the continuation of sexual violence against women.
