From Violence to Life: Children Born of War and Constructions of Victimhood

Provost, Réné; Denov, Myriam

doi:10.2139/ssrn.3475496

Cited by 6 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 9 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Despite the myriad harms that children ‘born of war’ face, they ‘are more often than not simply overlooked in the process of transitional justice. It is one thing to conclude that…the behaviour of identifiable individuals or groups is the cause of harm, but it is another to ask whether and in what form this ought to be recognized in a more formal manner’ (Provost and Denov, 2019: 9).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Securing the Future: Transformative Justice and Children ‘Born of War’

Baines

Oliveira

2020

Social & Legal Studies

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Children born as the result of conflict related sexual violence often embody painful memories of war-affected communities. As a result, children ‘born of war’ experience abuse and neglect, social isolation and a sense of never-belonging. Existing scholarship grapples with the challenges of seeking justice for children ‘born of war’ given the complex ways their suffering is entangled with that of so many other victims. In post-conflict northern Uganda, a community-based organization composed of survivors of forced marriage and motherhood collectively seeks justice for their children in a process locally referred to as child tracing. The Women’s Advocacy Network brings together differently affected victim groups to help identify the paternal relatives of their children, mediate conflict and transform fractious relationships in order to secure a future for their children. Through this process, children who once divided communities, propel a collective reach towards justice.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Securing the Future: Transformative Justice and Children ‘Born of War’

Baines

Oliveira

2020

Social & Legal Studies

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Many GOC reported being discriminated against and being made outsiders, often when they visibly differed from the majority society, which we saw connected to feelings of loneliness as well. These two topics of "conspiracy of silence" and "discrimination and stigmatization" have been widely found in other reports and research on CBOW (Ericsson and Ellingsen, 2005;Øland, 2005;Mochmann and Larsen, 2008;Stelzl-Marx, 2015;Provost and Denov, 2020;Koegeler-Abdi, 2021). Last, they reported not only a lack of positive and stable emotional bonds but also a deficient satisfaction of their needs as children and adolescents by their primary caregivers but also the state, which seemed to fail in its responsibility to provide for and protect them as a vulnerable minority as well as supporting them to locate their fathers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 61%

“…This conspiracy of silence has been reported as a widespread and omnipresent phenomenon in the context of CBOW (Ericsson and Ellingsen, 2005;Øland, 2005;Schmitz-Köster, 2005;Mochmann and Larsen, 2008;Stelzl-Marx, 2015;Koegeler-Abdi, 2021). The uncertainty about their biological origin is a persisting topic that challenges their wellbeing (Lee, 2017) and leaves many with an impaired sense of belonging (Ericsson and Ellingsen, 2005;Øland, 2005;Provost and Denov, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Loneliness and lack of belonging as paramount theme in identity descriptions of Children Born of War

Mitreuter¹,

Glaesmer²,

Kuwert³

et al. 2022

Front. Polit. Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

ObjectiveChildren Born of War (CBOW) are an international and timeless phenomenon that exists in every country involved in war or armed conflict. Nevertheless, little is known on a systematic level about those children, who are typically fathered by a foreign or enemy soldier and born to a local mother. In particular, the identity issues that CBOW often report have remained largely uninvestigated. In the current qualitative study we began filling this gap in the scientific literature by asking how CBOW construct their identity in self-descriptions.MethodWe utilized thematic content analysis of N = 122 German CBOWs' answers to an open-ended questionnaire item asking how they see themselves and their identity in the context of being a CBOW.ResultsWe identified five key themes in CBOW' identity accounts. Loneliness and lack of belonging appeared as a paramount aspect of their self-descriptions next to narratives about belonging and positive relationship. On a less interpersonal basis, we found fighting and surviving and searching for truth and completion overarching aspects of their identities. There were also few accounts growing up unaffected by the fact of being born a CBOW. Although all themes portray different perspectives, they all (but the last one) clearly indicate the impeded circumstances under which CBOW had to grow up.ConclusionsIntegrating our findings with existing interdisciplinary literature regarding identity, we discuss implications for future research and clinical and political practice.

show abstract

“…Until recently, there has been very little acknowledgement of children born of rape in the dominant social and historical narratives on the Rwandan genocide (Denov & Kahn, 2019; Provost & Denov, 2020). Across interviews and focus groups, youth participants yearned for formal recognition from society of their perceived status as being “victims” of the genocide.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transgenerational trauma in Rwandan genocidal rape survivors and their children: A culturally enhanced bioecological approach

Kahn

Denov²

2022

Transcult Psychiatry

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Multiple theories, including attachment, family systems, and epigenetics, among many others, have been invoked to explain the mechanisms through which trauma is transmitted from one generation to the next. To move toward integration of extant theories and, thus, acknowledgement of multiple pathways for transmission of trauma, the authors explore the potential of applying a culturally enhanced bioecological theory to transgenerational trauma (TGT). Data from in-depth qualitative interviews in Rwanda more than two decades after the genocide, with 44 mothers of children born of genocidal rape, and in-depth interviews and focus groups with a total of 60 youth born of genocidal rape, were analyzed according to the processes of culturally enhanced bioecological theory. The findings from a hybrid inductive and deductive thematic analysis suggest that a culturally enhanced bioecological theory of human development allows for an integrated, multi-dimensional analysis of individual, family, cultural, and societal factors of transmission of TGT. Some facets of the data, however, are not accounted for in the theory, specifically, how some mothers were able to create and sustain a positive bond with their children born of genocidal rape, despite societal and family pressure to abandon or abort them. Nonetheless, the findings demonstrate how a culturally enhanced bioecological theory can be an important overarching framework for developing policies and practices to help interrupt or mitigate TGT, strengthen resilience, and facilitate healing for children born of genocidal rape, their mothers, and their families.

show abstract

From Violence to Life: Children Born of War and Constructions of Victimhood

Cited by 6 publications

References 9 publications

Securing the Future: Transformative Justice and Children ‘Born of War’

Securing the Future: Transformative Justice and Children ‘Born of War’

Loneliness and lack of belonging as paramount theme in identity descriptions of Children Born of War

Transgenerational trauma in Rwandan genocidal rape survivors and their children: A culturally enhanced bioecological approach

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About