Gender and Reparations in Sierra Leone: The Wounds of War Remain Open
Categories: Statebuilding
Sub-Categories: Human Development, Post-Conflict Reconstruction, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV), Transitional Justice
Country: Sierra Leone
Region: Sub-Saharan Africa
Year: 2006
Citation: King, Jamesina. "Gender and Reparations in Sierra Leone: The Wounds of War Remain Open." In What Happened to the Women? Gender and Reparations for Human Rights Violations, edited by Ruth Rubio-Marín, 246-83. New York: Social Science Research Council, 2006.
Sub-Categories: Human Development, Post-Conflict Reconstruction, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV), Transitional Justice
Country: Sierra Leone
Region: Sub-Saharan Africa
Year: 2006
Citation: King, Jamesina. "Gender and Reparations in Sierra Leone: The Wounds of War Remain Open." In What Happened to the Women? Gender and Reparations for Human Rights Violations, edited by Ruth Rubio-Marín, 246-83. New York: Social Science Research Council, 2006.
Executive Summary
The author Jamesina King illustrates how policymakers in Sierra Leone assumed that victims of war rape who became pregnant would be willing to care for and raise these children. Regrettably, this is one of several instances that illustrate how gender bias and sexual stereotyping can undermine postconflict policy and development planning, perhaps even sowing the seeds for tomorrow’s conflicts.