Acting on What We Know
Following the Women's Struggle for Justice events, Inter Pares staff member Rachel Gouin shares some reflections and questions inspired by meetings and discussions with colleagues.
Last September, Inter Pares called together women from around the world to deepen our collective understanding of sexual violence against women in armed conflict. We asked why this violence was so widespread and examined its root causes. By working in common cause with those who struggle for peace and social justice, Inter Pares was able to convene discussions and dialogue around this difficult issue. We discussed patriarchy, violence as a continuum, feminism and resistance. Through our discussions, words loaded with meaning became more concrete. We linked them to our own experiences and to the contexts in which we live and work: in Peru, in Colombia, in Burundi, in Sudan, in Guatemala, in Burma, and in Canada.
As an activist and staff member of Inter Pares, I was inspired by Asha, Tay Tay, Diana and others as I listened to their experiences, dilemmas and analysis. I was struck when Asha asked, "What gives the predator the legitimacy, or the power, or the excuse to use sexual violence as a weapon of war?"
As we discussed this question, we all agreed that violence tolerated in the private sphere legitimates and encourages violence in the public sphere, and vice versa. There is no clear separation between the two, though the perpetrators' context and motivation may differ. The domination of men over women is the backdrop for atrocities that are planned and perpetrated against women during war. When armed conflicts end without justice, power structures - including those that legitimize sexual violence - remain intact, leaving a legacy of impunity. A broad concept of sexual violence against women allows us to denounce the state's role both in orchestrating and in being complicit with this violence.
But it also enables each of us to reflect on and challenge the ways in which we perpetuate gender inequality in our everyday lives. Tay Tay relayed the challenges she faces in her work on the Thai-Burma border and asked, "If we don't touch patriarchy, the root cause of this violence, then how will we address state violence?" Giulia, from Peru, reminded us that "in increasingly militarized societies, gender stereotypes are manipulated for political and military ends." Without an analysis of systemic gender inequality, violent acts against women may seem random, without coherence or underlying cause. Without a critique of militarism, women survivors of rape are victims of circumstance: they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. But the reality is that violence against women exists before conflict, during conflict, and remains after peace agreements are signed. While sexual violence in armed conflict must be confronted, all of us understood that our struggle must be broader.
To take these reflections further, Inter Pares organized a dialogue between local Canadian activists and our visiting counterparts. Our international colleagues were dismayed with the daily reality of violence against women and girls in Canada, and at how Canada is undermining women's and girls' equality.
We agreed that all of our societies are becoming increasingly militarized and obsessed with security, and that more feminist dialogue and action are needed to transform a prevailing ideology of fear.
While the patriarchal societies we live in are shaped by different forms of control and oppression, and while our struggles are diverse, the goal of ending violence against women is global. The events held in September reminded me that it is possible for a diverse group of women to share a common understanding of the root causes of violence against women. Feminism is not just a belief in universal equality, it is an action that we take together to turn this belief into reality. We are all a part of finding a humanizing way forward.
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