Invisibilidades da guerra e da paz: Violências contra as mulheres na Guiné-Bissau, em Moçambique e em Angola

• Main Authors: Tatiana Moura, Sílvia Roque, Sara Araújo, Mónica Rafael, Rita Santos
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Centro de Estudos Sociais da Universidade de Coimbra 2009-09-01
• Series: Revista Crítica de Ciências Sociais
• Subjects: violence against women; post-war insecurity; strategies against violence
• Online Access: http://journals.openedition.org/rccs/240
• ISSN: 0254-1106; 2182-7435

The fact that it is men who kill and are killed most in times of war has led to the invisibility and neglect of other actors involved in these contexts. Women, in fact, have represented the prime social absence in analyses of armed conflicts and in post-conflict reconstruction policies. This wartime invisibility is prolonged into the post-war period. If during the armed conflict certain groups are not considered significant participants, being involved in, and suffering the impact of, wars in a different way – as is the case with women and children – in the post-war reconstruction period their needs remain marginalised. In addition, in order to turn the post-war period into a period of peace, violent practices must be silenced, and subsequently take on new characteristics. Through an approach foregrounding the analysis of continuums of violence beyond what may be considered the official war scenarios, and on the basis of Angolan, Guinean and Mozambican contexts, the aim of this article is to demonstrate the proximity of war and peace zones, specifically with regard to insecurities not considered relevant to the planning and implementation of post-war policies. In particular, the intention is to analyse the forms of violence practised against women within these contexts.