decade ago in northern Uganda, but for many women abducted by the rebel
Lord’s Resistance Army and the children they conceived in captivity, the
war is far from over. Sexual exploitation, beatings, stigmatization and
community rejection, lack of medical care and education, and
deprivation of land rights are among the challenges faced by those who
escaped from or were released by the LRA.
For two decades from the mid-1980s, between 10,000 and 15,000 girls
and women were abducted from their homes in northern Uganda to serve as
fighters, porters and sex slaves of LRA commanders. These forced unions
resulted in a population group often neglected by post-war recovery
programmes: children born of war.
According to a recent article
published by the International Centre for Transitional Justice (ICTJ),
“Thousands of such children exist on the margins, fathered through
sexual violence by not only the LRA, but also government forces and a
multitude of other state and non-state armed actors.”
A new report
by the Justice and Reconciliation Project, based in the northern town
of Gulu, points out that scores more women were subjected to sexual
violence and exploitations in the so-called “protected villages” where
most of the population of northern Uganda was forced to live during the
war.
“As if the original violations were not severe enough, female victims
are especially susceptible to ongoing forms of re-victimisation that
extend long after initial violations occur,” says the report, titled,
“Alone Like a Tree: Reintegration Challenges Facing Children Born of War
[CBW] and Their Mothers in Northern Uganda.”
No comments:
Post a Comment