Megan Graham, Gettysburg College
“Sexual and Gender Based Violence in Post-Conflict Communities: A Case Study of Kyangwali Refugee Settlement”
Bio: Megan Graham is originally from Asheville, NC and is a senior at Gettysburg College in Gettysburg PA, double majoring in Health Sciences and Globalization Studies. Megan is an active member of her college campus and is a co-founder of the Gettysburg Peace Club and an active participant in the International Club. This academic year she is also a program coordinator for the Gettysburg College Women’s Center is focusing her programming around social justice and equality for all women on campus and the community, especially women of color on campus and the Latina population surrounding the college. Megan studied abroad in the fall of 2007 with the SIT Uganda and development studies program. During her study abroad semester she became interested in development, public health, and particularly involved with the refugee population. She spent six weeks conducting research in Kyangwali Refugee Settlement examining the causes and effects of sexual and gender-based violence in conflict and post conflict situations. Megan also interned for ten weeks in Nicaragua this past summer through the Foundation for Sustainable Development (FDS) and a Nicaraguan NGO to learn, educate, and work on preventing interfamilial violence against women. Megan’s plans after graduating are still developing as she is applying for a Fulbright to return to Uganda and work with IDP and refugee women, and will ultimately attend graduate school for international public health focusing on refugee populations and development.
Abstract: Kyangwali Refugee Settlement is home to approximately 20,000 refugees who have fled from various conflicts in their home nations. As the people strive to rebuild shattered lives, they face many obstacles and challenges that affect them physically and mentally. Post-conflict communities are endemic with insecurity as stress and anxiety grip the population. Women and young girls in post-conflict societies are impacted by sexual and gender based violence as it continues its destructive path from conflict zones.
The origin of sexual and gender based violence stems from conflict in war as well as cultural practices, and the violence experienced by the women in post-conflict communities impacts their physical and psychological health. The effects of sexual and gender based violence can be seen in the hardened faces of women in Kyangwali Refugee Settlement as they struggle to mend broken histories and build sustainable futures.
This paper examines the social and cultural causes behind the sexual and gender based violence that occurred in Kyangwali Refugee Settlement, as well as examining the physical and psychological effects of such violence on the women of the community and the overall development of Uganda as a nation.
