Feminist Rethinking of the Representation of African Women in Peacebuilding: A Theoretical Analysis

Abstract

Are women just victims in times of war and post-conflict peacebuilding? This question is a manifestation of years of research into the participation and underrepresentation of women in peacebuilding. Women’s underrepresentation in peacebuilding has been ascribed to several factors such as the patriarchal culture of most African societies, the “women-as-victims-only” narrative and the under-reporting of informal contributions women make through their participation in peacebuilding activities. Importantly, the women as-victim-only narrative which features in numerous studies is often cited as why women are not participating in post-conflict peacebuilding, thereby necessitating the opening question. Therefore, this paper used the radical feminist theory as a lens to rethink the agency that women embody during peacebuilding in a bid to argue that women are much more than victims. More specifically, it sought to examine the validity of the women-as-victims-only narrative and how it limits the representation of women in peacebuilding. By using qualitative methodology and radical feminist theoretical framework, this paper argued that women are much more than victims of war as they often participate in peace processes. The study found that women in Sierra Leone were an integral part of the peace processes, which lends credence to the notion that women are both victims of war and agents of peace.