Raquel Font-Soloway, Oberlin College
“Sexual and Gender Based Violence in Post-Conflict Communities: A Case Study of Kyangwali Refugee Settlement”
Bio: Raquel Font-Soloway is currently a graduating senior at Oberlin College with a major in Gender and Women's Studies. She studied abroad in Kampala, Uganda in the Fall of 2007 and conducted research in Kyangwali refugee settlement on the impact of sexual violence during conflict on the psychological and physical health of female refugees. Raquel's paper entitled "Women Strike for Peace" is published in the 2007 edition of Consilience-Undergraduate Research Education (C-URE).
Abstract: This report aims to form a comprehensive study of female empowerment in post-conflict East Africa, Ugandan refugee settlements in particular, and study its global implications. Research was completed in Kyangwali refugee settlement in Uganda, where first-hand knowledge of female experiences during war and the repercussions they experience in their current resettlement was gathered. East Africa has experienced exposure to uniquely gruesome and heinous war crimes, including tribal wars taking place on the streets and in peoples homes. During this kind of war tactic, women are particularly impacted because their home and family are strongly affected by abuses such as torture, sexual abuse, and destruction. East African women are part of cultures that are particularly repressive and hold women tightly to their duties in the home and for the family. The combination of these two aspects of Eastern African societies makes the women who suffer from war crimes in these areas among the most silenced and least empowered women. Through connections made between primary research and previous psychosocial and medical analysis done, connections will be drawn between the impacts of war on women and their ability to reach empowerment.
