International Human Rights, Gender-Based Violence, and Local Discourses of Abuse in Postconflict Liberia: A Problem of “Culture”?

Abstract

In this article we draw on three years of ethnographic observation of postconflict humanitarian intervention in Liberia to consider the process whereby global efforts in the areas of gender-based violence (GBV) and human rights are interacting with local debates over kinship, entitlement, personal rights, and social responsibility. This article draws upon Liberian narratives, complaints, and efforts to regulate, in a national context, social norms and behavior in regard to gender-based violence issues in postconflict life while also engaging with an ongoing international human rights discourse on the subject of GBV. Our ethnography takes a multiscalar approach to give a sense of the process, multiple discourses, and dialectics of power involved in this issue, and to demonstrate how the definition of "the GBV problem" in Liberia, the target of complex GBV interventions, is different from the conception held by agencies, governmental ministries, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that are responsible for implementing global mandates.Resume: Dans cet article, nous nous appuyons sur trois ans d'observation ethnographique des interventions humanitaires apres la guerre civile au Liberia pour examiner la relation entre les efforts globaux dans les domaines de la violence contre les femmes et des droits de l'homme, et les debats locaux sur les questions de parente, de droit commun et individuel, et de responsabilite sociale. Cet article se base sur des recits locaux, des plaintes deposees, et sur les efforts de regulation au niveau national des normes sociales et des comportements se rapportant aux problemes de violence perpetree contre les femmes dans la vie quotidienne d'apres-guerre, tout en se rapportant a la discussion internationale en cours sur les droits de l'homme dans le contexte de la violence contre les femmes. Notre point de vue ethnographique se situe a plusieurs niveaux pour offrir une vue generale du processus, des discours multiples, et de la dialectique du pouvoir impliques dans cette question, et pour demontrer que la definition appliquee au "probleme de la violence contre les femmes" au Liberia, sujet a des interventions complexes sur ce probleme, est differente des notions percues par les agences d'intervention, les ministeres du gouvernement, et les ONG charges de mettre en place des mandats globaux pour faire face au probleme.

‘That thing of human rights’: discourse, emergency assistance, and sexual violence in South Sudan's current civil war

“…While resistance to efforts to change society's treatment of women is to be expected in many ways in a highly patriarchal, patrilineal society, where a freefalling economy and insecurity have left many communities almost entirely reliant on the income accrued from bride wealth, most human rights education initiatives have endeavoured to raise awareness of women's rights without considering the significance of patrilocal, bride wealth‐based marriages for the functioning of the local political economy. As has been observed in other conflict‐affected settings, attempts to address sexual violence ordinarily proceed with appeals to customary authorities to end it once and for all, with international policies coming out triumphant in the fight to emancipate the ‘other’ woman (Abramowitz and Moran, ). Yet, as evidenced above, the exclusion of local perspectives and the contextual realities in which acts of sexual violence are rooted can lead to the violent reinforcement of the patriarchal underpinnings of gender relations.…”

Examining gender based violence and abuse among Liberian school students in four counties: An exploratory study

“…Liberian women activists have played a key role in strengthening current policies in Liberia surrounding gender based violence. Global NGOs should aim to partner with Liberian women and integrate a human rights framework in ways that are informed by Liberia's history and gender relations (Abramowitz & Moran, 2012). Incorporating good practice models that facilitate gender-sensitive services inclusive of psychosocial, health, and educational services delivered within communities are needed.…”

The Upper Guinea Coast in Global Perspective

“…Archibald and Richards 2002;Ferme and Hoff man 2004;Fanthrope 2005;Shaw 2005Shaw , 2010Allie 2008;Boas and Hatloy 2008;Kelsall 2009;Sesay and Suma 2009;Anders 2012;Abramowitz and Moran 2012). Th is essay addresses similar questions, but in terms of a specifi c international legal norm: the right of non-refoulement, as well as the related right to exit a community.…”