Gender-based violence, Education And Armed Conflicts

KC JOURNAL NO 6 JUNE 2004

This article will draw on the experiences of people in a number of countries that have recently experienced armed conflicts or, rather, exist under conditions of military invasions. It will also discuss how sexual violence affects the education of children in general, and especially girl learners or teenagers in the process. Sexual violence is a very complex and sensitive issue that nevertheless takes place within most communities, and we will look into some of its dynamics. As we commemorate the events and consequences of South Africa’s 1976 student activism, and as we have moved almost three decades away from those events, we must remember the continued human violations of education rights of young people that still exists, due to armed conflicts, military invasions, and war, that each day leave long-term physical and psychological wounds on the world’s various communities. An important instance of such violations is taking place in Iraq today, where girl children are exposed to appalling physical and psychological violence. In this article we will begin by looking at other young people who are losing educational opportunities due to on-going armed conflicts. This includes young people who have been forced to sexually violate their mothers and sisters, and who have been abducted and recruited as child soldiers. The influence of external forces in armed conflicts with their interest in mineral resources that continues to stir and exacerbate ethnic and religious conflicts amongst communities cannot be left unmentioned. These are struggles that continue to link our South African education struggle (amongst others) to other young people in the world, irrespective of the established geographic borders and boundaries.

Sexual violence and armed conflicts

Girls still account for more than half of all illiterate children. The realisation of a balanced socio- economic environment will remain doomed if the education of girls continues to be unstable. In this article we argue that armed conflicts generate sexual violence and as a consequence of this, girls cannot make full use of mainstream education. Statistics of sexual violence are often unreliable as most victims are reluctant to report such cases and are also reluctant to seek medical help due to lack of access to health care facilities during situations of armed conflicts. Stigmas and taboos attached to issues of sexuality are also often an impediment to this. The present US-British war and occupation

of Iraq has been going on for almost 18 months, and reports reveal that it is difficult to get statistics over the number of sexual violence cases. Reports indicate that “there has been breakdown in police record keeping and widespread looting of court and hospital records that ensued after U.S. troops entered Baghdad” It is important to note that occupying forces, such as the US in Iraq, do not record violence against local populations.

In situations of armed conflicts, communities become vulnerable as they are exposed to appalling conditions directly affecting their well-established socio-economic structures. Long established social relationships are dismantled in the blink of an eye and the social fabric is torn apart. Communities are disintegrating and are forced to vacate their original spaces of safety as the gruesome conditions of conflict intensify the displacement of communities inside and outside their country’s borders. Infrastructal damages are immeasurable, and provision of public services, including health care facilities, education, water and shelter, is collapsing. It takes long time – if it ever happens – to regain a situation of normality, as armed conflicts have at times proven to be repetitive and cyclical. It is this kind of a vulnerable situation which adds to already existing patterns of sexual violence.

Different forms of sexual violence emerge during armed conflict situations such as abduction, rape, sexual humiliation, forced prostitution, forced pregnancy and of late trafficking. These gruesome acts immediately and subsequently impact on the ability of girl children to attend school. Often they are forcefully taken by the armed forces and used in prostitution, or forced into prostitution to provide for economic the needs of their families.

Collection of firewood in refugee camps, some of which have existed for very long periods, means that nearby trees are depleted, and girls – who are responsible for the collecting of wood – have to spend most of the time of a day walking long distances. For example, in the case of Sudan, where some refugee camps have existed for almost 50 years due to the on-going civil conflict, girls have spent the whole day walking to and fro to collect one load of migrants are young males, let the girls not suffer a second blow while they are in our hands. We should ensure that the ‘progressive’ Refugee Act of 1998, which provides refugee children with the right to study, is popularised and enforced in South African schools.

Conclusions

The above discussion is descriptive and tells a gruesome narrative about gender-based violence and its impact on education during armed conflict. The article hopes to generate a grounded discussion around education of displaced girls in South Africa and around the world. As girls are forced to give up educational opportunities, something that has deep socio-economic effects, we young South African people should not forget those girls who have died, disappeared, and who continue to suffer emotional and physical scars due to current ongoing armed conflicts. We should move away from ‘traditional cultural roles of males and females’ which are questionable in a world where some powerful states are holding a wealth of a history of imposing their practices onto whole peoples – practices that are later developed into cultures and which, with time, become traditions.

*Sarah Motha is from a rural area in Mpumalanga province. She is a teacher and works with the Education Rights Project.

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