Gender, Conflict and Reintegration in Uganda

This book explores what happened when the tens of thousands of girls (now women) abducted by Lord's Resistance Army and inducted into their campaign of violence against the Ugandan government, returned home. Drawing on extensive original research, the author considers the challenges which the formerly abducted women have encountered upon their return, the strategies which have been used to aid their reintegration, and the enduring stigma of abduction which they continue to suffer from. The author demonstrates that 'home', a place of hope and comfort, can also be a hostile environment which leaves formerly abducted women in precarious and vulnerable situations. The many shortcomings in the reintegration process have serious implications for the prospects of post-conflict reconstruction. Analysing reintegration as a long-term and dynamic process which involves complex negotiations and exchanges between hosting communities and formerly abducted women, this book will be of interest to scholars, policymakers and practitioners working in the fields of post-conflict reconstruction, African politics and gender and conflict.

Dr Allen Kiconco received her PhD in African Studies from the Department of African Studies and Anthropology, the University of Birmingham in 2015. Since October 2017, she has been a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Political Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa.

1. Introduction 2. Culture, Spirituality and Cleansing Rituals 3. Abduction and Forced Marriage in the Context of Conflict 4. Stigmatisation not Reintegration 5. Post-Captivity Marriage 6. The Return Home Process 7. Conclusion