Female ex-combatants of the Sierra Leonean civil war: conditions for exclusion from the United Nations Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration program

07/05/2021

Written by: Emma Donnaint^[1]A preliminary version of this article was written by Emma Donnaint for the POL 6614 – Peace Consolidation course at the Université de Montréal

Translated by: Célia Roche

The Sierra Leone Civil War began in March 1991, when the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), supported by Liberian President Charles Taylor, invaded Sierra Leone from Liberia^[2]Denov, M. & Maclure, R. (2006). Engaging the Voices of Girls in the Aftermath of Sierra Leone’s Conflict: Experiences and Perspectives in a Culture of Violence, Anthropologica, 48:1, 73 – 85.. The Lomé Accords, which officially put an end to the conflict, were signed by the Sierra Leonean government and the various parties to the conflict on July 7, 1999^[3]MacKenzie, M. (2012). “Chapter 2 : Female Soldiers in Sierra Leone, Sex, Security, and Post-Conflict Development” In Female Soldiers in Sierra Leone, New-York : New-York University Press.. On the international media scene, women were the victims of systematic sexual violence on a massive scale: according to estimates by Physicians for Human Rights, 257,000 women were raped and sexually assaulted during the decade of war^[4]Physicians for Human Rights (2002). War-related Sexual Violence in Sierra Leone: A Population-Based Assessment. Boston : Physicians for Human Rights.. However, this media framing has contributed to a process of victimization of Sierra Leonean women during the civil war^[5]Marks, Z. (2013). Sexual Violence Inside Rebellion: Policies and Perspectives of the Revolutionary United Front of Sierra Leone, Civil Wars, 15:3, 359 – 379., thus making invisible the diversity of roles they may have occupied during the armed conflict. Actually, some were spies, other warriors. Some carried weapons, others killed and raped. They were active fighters, described as more “devilish and sanguinary” than men^[6]Coulter, C. (2008). Female Fighters in the Sierra Leone War: Challenging the Assumptions?, Feminist Review, 88 : 54-73.. Nevertheless, being a female combatant did not mean that soldiers possessed a shield protecting them from the gendered and sexual violence that permeated the entire conflict. Being a woman in a militia or rebel group during the civil conflict implied gendered dynamics that need to be acknowledged, such as sexual violence. The great majority of female members of armed groups have been abducted, on average at the age of 12^[7]Mazurana, D. & Calson, K. (2004). From Combat to Community: Women and Girls of Sierra Leone. Washington DC : Women Waging Peace.. More than half have been forced into marriage, and all report having been raped^[8]Mazurana, D. & Calson, K. (2004). From Combat to Community: Women and Girls of Sierra Leone. Washington DC : Women Waging Peace..

It is therefore crucial to consider a status that is far more complex than it appears. “Victim” and “aggressor” are two terms that are part of a binarity that suggests that an individual cannot be both simultaneously in the context of conflict. Yet a woman does not stop being a victim by becoming an aggressor, just as she does not escape the violence she commits by being a victim^[9]Mazurana, D. & Calson, K. (2004). From Combat to Community: Women and Girls of Sierra Leone. Washington DC : Women Waging Peace.. It is therefore necessary to deconstruct a dominant discourse that reifies “women’s experience of war”, producing a monolithic portrait of the roles they occupied in conflict situations^[10]Coulter, C. (2009). Bush Wives and Girl Soldiers: Women’s Lives through War and Peace in Sierra Leone. Ithaca : Cornell Press University.. This categorization has direct consequences for post-conflict reconstruction: by understanding Sierra Leonean women combatants as “women associated with the war”, or as mere members, they were denied the status of a soldier that was their due^[11]MacKenzie, M. (2009). Securitization and Desecuritization: Female Soldiers and the Reconstruction of Women in Post-Conflict Sierra Leone. Security Studies, 18:2, 241-261.. Considered as victims, the authorities have neglected an entire aspect of their responsibility in the civil war. Without understanding the complexity of their participation and the gendered dynamics involved, their access to the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) process has been limited^[12]MacKenzie, M. (2009). Securitization and Desecuritization: Female Soldiers and the Reconstruction of Women in Post-Conflict Sierra Leone. Security Studies, 18:2, 241-261..

This article shows how a reductive vision of the roles played by Sierra Leonean women during the civil war conditioned their participation in the DDR program.

What is the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) program?

The DDR program is structured around three phases. The first is disarmament, defined as the “collection, documentation, control and disposal of all weapons”^[13]General Secretariat (2000). The Role of the United Nations Peacekeeping in Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration. New-York : United Nations., whether arms, ammunition and explosives voluntarily handed over by combatants, persons associated with armed forces and groups, and sometimes also the civilian population^[14]General Secretariat (2000). The Role of the United Nations Peacekeeping in Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration. New-York : United Nations.. The second phase, demobilization, involves the reduction or dismantling of factional forces and groups, as part of a transformation from war to peace^[15]UNPDKO (1999). Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration Standards. Glossary: Terms and Definition. New-York : United Nations.. Finally, the reintegration phase aims to encourage the social and economic activities of former rebels in their communities^[16]UNPDKO (1999). Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration Standards. Glossary: Terms and Definition. New-York : United Nations.. In other words, DDR is designed to go beyond simple disarmament: it must be combined with the rehabilitation and reconstruction of society for a secure nation^[17]MacKenzie, M. (2012). “Chapter 2 : Female Soldiers in Sierra Leone, Sex, Security, and Post-Conflict Development” In Female Soldiers in Sierra Leone, New-York : New-York University Press.. Sierra Leone’s DDR program ended in December 2003: since 2001, under the aegis of the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), 75,000 combatants have been demobilized, including 4,571 women (6.5%) and 6,787 children (9.4%), 506 of whom were girls^[18]Mazurana, D. & Calson, K. (2004). From Combat to Community: Women and Girls of Sierra Leone. Washington DC : Women Waging Peace.. However, in contrast to the large number of female combatants (it is estimated that at least 30% of armed group members were women), the number of female participants in the DDR program is very low. Based on the figures outlined above, only 23.5% of women who had belonged to an armed group were able to participate in the DDR program^[19]MacKenzie, M. (2012). “Chapter 2 : Female Soldiers in Sierra Leone, Sex, Security, and Post-Conflict Development” In Female Soldiers in Sierra Leone, New-York : New-York University Press..

Female Ex-Combatants: Missed Targets in Sierra Leone’s DDR Program

While disarmament is not the only component of the DDR program, in the case of Sierra Leone, it is the gateway. To participate in the program, according to the criteria established by the above-mentioned UNAMSIL, first one had to be over 18 years of age, then able to present oneself with a weapon, and finally able to dismantle and assemble an AK-47^[20]Mazurana, D. & Calson, K. (2004). From Combat to Community: Women and Girls of Sierra Leone. Washington DC : Women Waging Peace.. The practice of considering a weapon as proof of participation in civil conflict and membership of a rebel group demonstrates a lack of understanding of the gender and power dynamics within these groups. Indeed, many female combatants had already had to give their weapons to their husbands long before the start of the DDR, others were forced to give them to their commanders, and finally, when they only fought periodically, some female combatants did not own any weapons of their own^[21]Mazurana, D. & Calson, K. (2004). From Combat to Community: Women and Girls of Sierra Leone. Washington DC : Women Waging Peace.. Furthermore, women had not necessarily been informed of the possibility of participating in the DDR: most of the information was passed on by former commanders. They had the power to decide who was eligible, and therefore, by extension, to decide who could or could not benefit from the program^[22]Mazurana, D. & Calson, K. (2004). From Combat to Community: Women and Girls of Sierra Leone. Washington DC : Women Waging Peace.. The hierarchy within the groups was deeply gendered and discriminatory: while women occupied fighting roles, they were only considered second-rank members^[23]Coulter, C. (2009). Bush Wives and Girl Soldiers: Women’s Lives through War and Peace in Sierra Leone. Ithaca : Cornell Press University.. As a result, the key to participation in DDR – the weapon, which could be exchanged for money – was placed primarily in the hands of male members^[24]Coulter, C. (2009). Bush Wives and Girl Soldiers: Women’s Lives through War and Peace in Sierra Leone. Ithaca : Cornell Press University..

In the end, associating weapons with participation in the civil war, without considering that the latter may have been at the crossroads of gender and power dynamics, contributed to discriminating against women entering the DDR program. As they did not own weapons, some women found themselves without physical proof of their participation and belonging to the group.

The Demobilization Phase: Sexual Violence, a Neglected Issue

The demobilization phase in Sierra Leone resulted in the setting up of cantonment camps. These camps were mixed: very often, female combatants, when they managed to participate in the program, found themselves living with their aggressors^[25]Cullen, L. C. (2020). Female Combatants and the Post-Conflict Process in Sierra Leone, Journal of International Women’s Studies, 21:2, 114-25.. In addition, drug use was widespread, and contributed to a significant increase in the number of rapes committed against women living in the camps^[26]Lahai, J. I. (2015). “Gendering Conflict and Peacebuilding in Sierra Leone” In. Shkhawat, S., Female Combatants in Conflict and Peace, Palgrave Macmillan.. In response, some female ex-combatants refused to participate in DDR, preferring to change their status and register with the government as victims of sexual violence^[27]Lahai, J. I. (2015). “Gendering Conflict and Peacebuilding in Sierra Leone” In. Shkhawat, S., Female Combatants in Conflict and Peace, Palgrave Macmillan.. This change of status could also be forced: some women were referred to services for victims of sexual violence after being refused access to the DDR program^[28]MacKenzie, M. (2012). “Chapter 2 : Female Soldiers in Sierra Leone, Sex, Security, and Post-Conflict Development” In Female Soldiers in Sierra Leone, New-York : New-York University Press..

Given these risks, the inducement for female ex-combatants to go voluntarily to male-dominated camps was weak and counterproductive^[29]Coulter, C. (2009). Bush Wives and Girl Soldiers: Women’s Lives through War and Peace in Sierra Leone. Ithaca : Cornell Press University.. This proves that the continuum of violence in cantonment camps was not taken into consideration by UNAMSIL. Indeed, the failure to consider the risks posed by the mixed nature of the camps, both for women’s physical and mental health, and for its impact on women’s willingness to participate in DDR, shows that the program was not intended to demobilize the thousands of female combatants^[30]Coulter, C. (2009). Bush Wives and Girl Soldiers: Women’s Lives through War and Peace in Sierra Leone. Ithaca : Cornell Press University.. Ignored, the women were forced to make a choice: to disarm, demobilize and reintegrate, with all the risks this entailed for them, or to return to life in post-conflict society on their own.

Reintegration Through the DDR Program: The Weight of Stigmatization

For many female ex-combatants, participating in the DDR program was a way of confessing to having been part of an armed group, and meant having to face the stigma and shame that such participation implied^[31]Coulter, C. (2009). Bush Wives and Girl Soldiers: Women’s Lives through War and Peace in Sierra Leone. Ithaca : Cornell Press University.. Some female ex-combatants therefore preferred to hide their identity and their past, and to reintegrate their communities without going through the DDR program, which would have helped to reveal their membership of armed groups during the war. For many, it was a matter of avoiding being categorized as “deviant”^[32]MacKenzie, M. (2009). Securitization and Desecuritization: Female Soldiers and the Reconstruction of Women in Post-Conflict Sierra Leone. Security Studies, 18:2, 241-261. In the collective imagination, both in the West and in Sierra Leonean society, a woman does not fight. But gradually, rumors of the violence and cruelty of women fighters were enough to inspire fear and mistrust of them among civilians^[33]Coulter, C. (2009). Bush Wives and Girl Soldiers: Women’s Lives through War and Peace in Sierra Leone. Ithaca : Cornell Press University.. This violence was seen by community members as contrary to the nurturing nature of women, mothers who should protect life^[34]Coulter, C. (2009). Bush Wives and Girl Soldiers: Women’s Lives through War and Peace in Sierra Leone. Ithaca : Cornell Press University.. Therefore, trying to re-enter a community without hiding meant taking the risk of being excluded, as a woman who acts against her nature is not worthy of marriage, or even of bearing life^[35]Coulter, C. (2009). Bush Wives and Girl Soldiers: Women’s Lives through War and Peace in Sierra Leone. Ithaca : Cornell Press University.. Thus, the fact that identity photos were required as part of participation in the DDR program exacerbated women’s desire not to take part. These photographs were the physical manifestation of shameful behavior^[36]Coulter, C. (2009). Bush Wives and Girl Soldiers: Women’s Lives through War and Peace in Sierra Leone. Ithaca : Cornell Press University.. Exposed in this manner, it was impossible for female ex-combatants to escape their past.

However, trying to hide one’s past membership of an armed group becomes impossible when some ex-combatants return to their communities as married mothers of rebel children. The armed groups paid no attention to the caste system present in Sierra Leonean communities: as a result, their children, married by force to men of different castes, are considered illegitimate according to the mores and social system of the community^[37]MacKenzie, M. (2012). “Chapter 2 : Female Soldiers in Sierra Leone, Sex, Security, and Post-Conflict Development” In Female Soldiers in Sierra Leone, New-York : New-York University Press.. The stigmatization this entails has concrete consequences. Female ex-combatants risk finding themselves in a very precarious situation, cut off from their community networks. Nor can they benefit from the care and protection that the state, after a decade of instability, is not yet able to provide^[38]Cohn, C. (2012).“Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR)”.In Women and Wars, Cambridge: Polity Press, 194–214.). While the Sierra Leonean government celebrated the complete … Continue reading, after three years of the DDR program, the results of the reintegration of female ex-combatants are much more uneven. In such a context, some have turned to prostitution and crime to survive, while others have left the country to serve in other armed groups in the region, notably in Liberia^[39]Mazurana, D. & Calson, K. (2004). From Combat to Community: Women and Girls of Sierra Leone. Washington DC : Women Waging Peace.. Without gender-sensitive tools, the DDR program failed to take into account the specific needs of Sierra Leonean female ex-combatants^[40]Mazurana, D. & Calson, K. (2004). From Combat to Community: Women and Girls of Sierra Leone. Washington DC : Women Waging Peace..

Conclusion

Female ex-combatants in Sierra Leone are a paradigmatic example of the consequences of categorizing women as a single homogeneous group: thought of as victims, they were not considered as potential combatants. The Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) program, which began in 2001, failed to address the challenges posed by the gender and power dynamics inherent in the functioning of armed groups during the civil war. Whether in terms of entry criteria, systemic sexual violence in cantonment camps, reintegration that was not sufficiently thought through in terms of gender and discrimination, female ex-combatants were the outsiders in a process that should have reintegrated them fully into post-conflict society. Finally, failure to acknowledge the active roles women played during the war excluded them from the DDR program, as the specificities of their complex experiences were not taken into account in its programming.

The attention paid to sexual violence against women during the conflict has not helped women to be heard on the subject: the Special Court for Sierra Leone, set up in 2002 and closed in 2013, excluded evidence and testimony from women who had suffered rape and sexual assault perpetrated by the pro-government armed group, the Civil Defense Forces (CDF)^[41]Staggs Kelsall, M. & Stepakoff, S. (2007). ’When We Wanted to Talk About Rape’: Silencing Sexual Violence at the Special Court for Sierra Leone, The International Journal of Transitional … Continue reading. Nor has the media attention called into question the gendered workings of post-conflict justice. In 2019, Sierra Leone’s First Lady, Fatima Bio, launched the “Hands Off Our Girls” campaign aimed at drawing attention to a pervasive rape culture in the country. Women are being called upon to take the lead in the fight against sexual violence and hope to succeed in reforming a justice system in Sierra Leone that has hitherto failed them.