This past Saturday I attended a full day conference on Women in Armed Conflict, hosted by the Mosaic Institute. May I add that the Program Manager of the Mosaic Institute, Jothi Shanmugam is a PCJ alumnus (Go PCJ!).

I have attended several conferences on conflict but this one was especially interesting as it focused on women. Although I had to wake up early on a Saturday morning I learned an incredible amount from this conference. The conference tackled many different issues regarding women in conflict, the role women play on the field and the effects conflicts have on their lives ( as women are greatly impacted by conflict).

There were many amazing speakers that attended the event and there was an open dialogue space for the audience to speak. This conference gave me so much information about the issues women face but I will focus on key things PCJ students should be aware of for part one.

Wartime Sexual Violence and AIDS

Ilana Landsberg-Lewis, a prominent Canadian humanitarian and labour and human rights lawyer, spoke about the issues of sexual violence as a tool of war. Although she talked about a lot of interesting things, what was most important to understand from her lecture is that in fact, sexual violence is a strategy of war. Rape and other forms of sexual violence are used against women in conflict zones because they leave long term affects on entire communities. Often rape leads to HIV infection and is purposefully perpetrated. Many times children born from rape are born HIV positive and once raped, women are likely to be raped again. Women lose their sense of identity, they are often shamed and left by their communities or family, and even after conflict is over, these women are left to go back to hostile communities. They are marked; it can be either because of the contraction of HIVor because of cultural perceptions of rape victims which leaves these women with nowhere to turn.

The most sickening thing about this is that sexual violence and the spread of AIDS through sexual violence is still not considered a weapon of war because of ongoing debates. So sexual violence in armed conflict is weaponized, it is not something that happens in the chaos of conflict but is often a strategic tool used to destroy communities through targeting the most integral members – women. Ilana often pointed out that during DDR (Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration) there is not enough focus or resources put into the rehabilitation of victims of sexual violence. Through her talk I came to the conclusion that the key ways to improve this situation are to rid states of this culture of impunity, establish without a doubt that sexual violence indeed is a weapon of war, and put greater funding into grassroots organizations of women who are working to council victims. There needs to be a greater representation of women from grassroots organizations from countries like the DRC. These women can help groups like the United Nations understand what movements need to be created in order to build resilience to future attacks. These suggestions are just a starting point of the improvements that need to be made in order for victims of sexual violence to receive justice.

First Nations Women and Armed Conflict in Canada

There were four different speakers for this next panel and we were divided into groups. My group’s speaker Audrey Huntley is a film maker, one of the co-founders of No More Silence and a community organizer. Audrey’s presentation was probably the most eye-opening because she spoke about the effects of armed conflict on Indigenous women in Canada. Audrey showcased a short film she made on the state of Indigenous women in Canada. She spoke about the fact that armed conflict was how this country was formed. Canada was built on the rape and deaths of Indigenous women and the repercussions of this past must be understood today. Audrey then spoke about the lack of action displayed by the Canadian government on the murders and disappearances of many Indigenous women in Canada now. In fact, you can visit her YouTube channel and watch many of her pieces, and one film, titled Go Home Baby Girl, that displays the realities of these untold stories. You can also visit her website to learn more about this issues http://www.itstartswithus-mmiw.com/. I strongly urge you to check out the site to get involved or learn more about these issues in our own country.

It is important to note the complexities of the issues I have presented, and to realize that if you are interested in pursuing these topics, research is key. I’ve highlighted some key and interesting points of the conference and there will be more to come.

Look out for part two of this blog coming to you on Friday! It will focus on the role of women out in the field of conflict and the dynamics of gender based violence.