Date of Submission
Winter 12-18-2019
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy in International Conflict Management (Ph.D. INCM)
Committee Chair/First Advisor
Dr. Debarati Sen
Committee Member
Dr. Akanmu Adebayo
Committee Member
Dr. Rebecca Jones
Abstract
There has been a “rapid expansion of publications” on Conflict Related Sexual Violence (CRSV) in the past five years (Campbell 2018:469). However, the more recent focus in this field of knowledge has shifted from qualitative feminist analysis to the use of quantitative and comparative methodology (Houge 2015:83, Bijleveld et al 2009, Boesten 2017:5). This shift has limited the amount of data focusing on individual or small groups of CRSV survivors. In order to examine the reintegration of CRSV survivors, this dissertation returns to the use of qualitative feminist methodology to examine the experiences of reintegration of CRSV survivors in Nigeria. Using interviews with six survivors of CRSV in Nigeria, along with data gathered in interviews with related parties to triangulate my findings, the dissertation provides an in-depth exploration of the cultural institutions that are the root causes of many challenges faced by CRSV survivors. The small sample of main respondents allowed for the in-depth probing necessary to approach the challenge of reintegration holistically with findings showing that the most challenging barriers to reintegration that survivors faced included stigma, psychological trauma, and a lack of perceived justice. This dissertation situates its findings with a focus on gender, arguing that the most prominent barriers for CRSV survivors in Nigeria are propagated by an internal culture driven by patriarchy and external idealisms segregated from the realities of the survivors.