Women Dismantling Militarism
Facts, Articles,
and Ideas from
the Global Fund's Militarism Initiative
Women's Bodies Are a Battleground
The Impact of Militarism on Women in Sub-Saharan Africa
Context
Over a half century ago, the African continent embarked on a path towards political independence and freedom from colonial legacies. Although this path held great promise for the social and economic development of African peoples, struggles over power grew increasingly dependent on military means. As a result, over the past 40 years, Sub-Saharan Africa has endured consistent and increasing militarization and armed conflict.
In the 1960s and 1970s, Africa became enmeshed in Cold-War politics and with it an arms race and deadly proxy wars. The continent was marred by three decades of coup d’états in Sudan and Nigeria and brutal non-state militias backed by foreign governments in the form of arms and military aid. By the mid-1970s, half of Africa was under military rule. Between 1990 and 2005, 23 nations were involved in conflict, with an average cost per year of $18 billion to African economies. The vast majority of these conflicts were carried out within nations, with increasingly devastating impact on civilian populations and rising casualties among women and children. According to a 2007 SIPRI report, the African continent collectively spent $15.5 billion in 2006, up 55 percent from 1996.
The militarization of Sub-Saharan Africa has gravely impacted meaningful human and economic development and the formation of peaceful and stable nation-states. Foreign policies towards Africa, especially by Western governments, have been largely militarized and have imposed foreign agendas on African soil. In the past decade, U.S. foreign policy has increasingly focused on “security” strategies over a human rights and development framework. An example is the establishment in 2007 of U.S. headquarters for military operations in Africa (AFRICOM).
Across Africa, governments are spending exorbitant amounts on the military as well as receiving significant military aid from bilateral partners. As a consequence, the African continent reflects only a fraction of its potential and the women’s rights movement has been severely constrained, as attacks on women’s bodies and women's rights have become commonplace.
Impact on Women
Sub-Saharan African feminists recognize that as women living in patriarchal societies, even in times of so-called peace, women do not enjoy peace and security in their homes, workplaces or on the streets. In Sudan, Ethiopia and Central African Republic, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone, Liberia and other post-conflict regions, gender-based violence precedes wartimes and does not end when peace is declared.
The human rights violations exacted upon women during conflict have been devastating:
- In a 1999 survey of Rwandan women, 39% reported being raped during the 1994 genocide. 72% said they knew someone who had been raped.
- In a random sample of 388 Liberian refugee women living in camps in Sierra Leone, 74% reported being sexually abused before being displaced from their homes in Liberia. 55% experienced sexual violence since being displaced.
- Approximately 50,000 to 64,000 internally displaced women were targets of sexual violence during Sierra Leone’s protracted armed conflict.
Militarism is a significant obstacle to Africa’s progress towards democratization, development, and gender justice. Armed conflicts have wrought devastation and destruction across great swathes of the African continent, killing, maiming and scarring children, women and men. The horrific violence that is inflicted on communities have traumatizing and debilitating effects that persist for generations. Not only are lives shattered and families scattered, the natural environment is left devastated, as are political, cultural and social support systems that have helped Africa survive in the past.
Sustained peace is not possible throughout the African continent as long as arms flow freely and are more readily available than books. Arms proliferation in Sub-Saharan Africa has increased sexual torture, resulting in trauma, loss of dignity, and susceptibility to sexual infections and reproductive disabilities. A failure to reverse militarization will reinforce the current trend of normalized violence and assure generations of youth that choose violence over dialogue and mutual respect, while reinforcing violent norms of masculinity. In fact, it is this more subtle normalization of a militaristic culture, which has enabled a gradual increase in and acceptance of militaristic speech, militaristic options, infrastructure, and even militarized popular culture. From the glorification of soldiers to the growing dependence on the military for career options for youth, to the use of military symbols in music videos and on clothing, the military has come to symbolize power, access, prestige, privilege, and enjoyment. These are the challenging circumstances in which women’s groups in Sub-Saharan Africa must wage their peace-building work, for women’s security and their children’s futures.
