Seminar: Kvinder og ukuelighed – at overleve væbnede konflikter

TIME: Thursday, 29 March, 13 – 15

VENUE: Danish Institute for International Studies, Main Auditorium, Strandgade 71, ground floor, Christianshavn, 1401 Copenhagen K

TIME: Thursday, 29 March, 13 – 15

VENUE: Danish Institute for International Studies, Main Auditorium, Strandgade 71, ground floor, Christianshavn, 1401 Copenhagen K

Armed conflicts can have considerable and disproportionate impact on women, as they can suffer specific risks and confront specific vulnerabilities because of their gender. This includes gender-based violence and especially sexual violence by armed actors as a weapon of war and the imposition of patriarchal models of social control by local power holders.

In some contexts, dispossession and violent seizure of women’s land have been facilitated due to historically lacking recognition of women’s property rights. Among displaced populations there is a high number of women-headed households forced to displace in conditions of marital abandonment or widowhood.

But women are far more than victims: They are often the key to preventing violence from emerging, through resolving ongoing conflicts.

Understanding the gendered nature of armed conflict dynamics is one of the most daunting challenges in peace research to date.

Focusing on two cases Colombia and Turkey this seminar explores the following questions: What does resilience imply for women surviving armed conflict? How do women narrate and frame war experiences including forced displacement and torture? How can national and international humanitarian actors take into account the gendered nature of war and survival?

Speakers:
Donny Meertens, Associate Professor, Pontificia Javeriana University, Colombia
Nerina Weiss, Researcher, RCT
Jairo Munive Rincon, Postdoc, DIIS

Programme:

13.00-13.10: Introduction; Jairo Munive Rincon, Postdoc, DIIS

13.10-13.45: Displaced Women, Victimhood and the Search for Justice in Colombia; Donny Meertens, Associate Professor, Pontificia Javeriana University, Colombia

13.45-14.00: Coffee Break

14.00-14.30: Ambivalent Heroes-Female Kurdish Torture Survivors in Turkey; Nerina Weiss, Researcher, RCT

14.30-15.00: Q & A

Chair: Jairo Munive Rincon, Postdoc, DIIS

The seminar will be held in English.

Participation is free of charge, but registration is required. Read more about the seminar and use the online registration form on the website no later than Wednesday, 28 March at 12.00 noon.

Please await confirmation by e-mail from DIIS for participation.