Feminist Perspectives on Gendered Violence: An Examination of Boko Haram and the Conflict in Northern Nigeria
Authors
Miller, Caitlin Elizabeth ; Wright, Amanda Helen Diana
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2017
Submitted on
2017-05-30
Pages
97
Abstract
This thesis examines how and why Boko Haram has targeted women and girls during its insurgency in Northern Nigeria through abductions, forced marriage, rape, forced pregnancy, and the use of female suicide bombers. It applies three feminist theoretical frameworks: “rape as a weapon of war,” which interprets these acts as deliberate tactics to pursue military objectives; “feminist political economy,” which situates the violence as a continuation of patriarchal, structural inequalities present in peacetime; and “protest masculinity,” which reads the violence as a response to marginalisation and a perceived crisis of manhood. Rather than choosing a single explanation, the study places these theories in conversation to clarify what each illuminates—from impacts on victims and communities, to the enabling role of social institutions, to the appeal of violence for individual fighters—and to discuss their respective strengths and limits in explaining Boko Haram’s conduct. It challenges accounts that naturalise wartime rape as an inevitable by-product of men’s biology and argues that a multi-theoretical approach yields a more comprehensive understanding of gendered violence in this conflict.
Dette speciale undersøger, hvordan og hvorfor Boko Haram under sin oprørskamp i Nordnigeria har målrettet kvinder og piger gennem blandt andet bortførelser, tvangsægteskaber, voldtægt, tvungen graviditet og brug af kvindelige selvmordsbombere. Analysen anvender tre feministiske teoretiske rammer: “voldtægt som et krigsvåben”, der fortolker overgrebene som bevidste taktiske midler til at forfølge militære mål; “feministisk politisk økonomi”, der ser volden som en forlængelse af patriarkalske, strukturelle uligheder i fredstid; og “protestmaskulinitet”, der forklarer volden som et voldeligt svar på marginalisering og en oplevet maskulinitetskrise. Formålet er ikke at udpege én korrekt forklaring, men at sætte teorierne i dialog for at belyse deres forskellige styrker og begrænsninger—fra effekter for ofre og lokalsamfund til institutionelle drivkræfter og individuelle motivationer—og dermed give en mere samlet forståelse af kønnet vold i konflikten. Studiet udfordrer forklaringer, der naturaliserer krigsvoldtægt som et uundgåeligt biprodukt af mænds biologi, og viser, hvordan flere perspektiver tilsammen kan nuancere forståelsen af Boko Harams praksisser.
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