Suchergebnisse

Background: Women's empowerment may require women to change their beliefs and views about their rights and capabilities. Empowerment programs often target women who have survived sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), with the justification that these women may develop disempowered beliefs as a coping mechanism, or face greater barriers to, or derive greater benefits from, the adoption of empowered beliefs and preferences. We investigated an intensive, six-month residential empowerment program ("City of Joy") for SGBV survivors in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where more than one in five women have experienced SGBV. Methods: We asked 175 participants about their beliefs and preferences pertaining to political, financial, and domestic empowerment. Interviews took place immediately before and after participation in the program, and we tested for differences in views of empowerment between entry and exit using paired t-tests and McNemar's test. We also conducted 50 semi-structured interviews about empowerment with an additional 30 women who had completed the program up to 5 years earlier and then returned to their home community. Results: Prior to enrolling in the program, participants had fairly empowered views regarding politics, less empowered views regarding finances, and still less empowered views regarding the domestic sphere. After completing the program, participants had significantly more empowered views in all three domains, particularly regarding domestic violence, how families should treat men and women, and women's economic rights. Participants in their home communities reported taking a more active role in community affairs and speaking out against the mistreatment of women. Conclusion: This study adds to the evidence that women's empowerment programs can change participants' beliefs and thus increase the confidence with which they participate in their communities and support one another.

City of Joy Brief Points is an intensive six-month support program for survivors of sexual violence in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) that aims to transform vulnerable women into community leaders. What transformations do we see in participants from the time of starting the program to the end of the program? Systematic survey results indicate that the women display significant changes in their attitudes and knowledge about women's empowerment and leadership, indicating that the program has a strong immediate effect on changing the participants' views on female leadership. However, further research is needed on the degree to which – and for whom – these positive changes endure after the women re-enter their home communities.

Introduction: An introduction to Resolution 1325: measuring progress and impact, Louise Olsson and Theodora-Ismene Gizelis . - PART I: Participation . - 1. Women's participation and peace? The decline of armed conflict in East Asia, Erik Melander and Elin Bjarnegård . - 2. Women's participation in international operations and missions, Louise Olsson, Anita Schjølset and Frida Möller . - 3. Female peacekeepers and gender balancing: Token gestures or informed policymaking? Kyle Beardsley and Sabrina Karim . - PART II: Protection . - 4. Understanding protection: Actors, victims, and power Jana Krause . - 5. War and gender inequalities in health, Henrik Urdal and Chi Primus Che . - 6. Assessing sexual exploitation and abuse by peacekeepers, Ragnhild Nordås and Siri Rustad . - PART III: Gender Mainstreaming . - 7. Exploring gender mainstreaming in security and development, Theodora-Ismene Gizelis and Jana Krause . - 8. (En)gendered security? Gender mainstreaming and women's inclusion in peace processes, Kara Ellerby . - 9. Gender mainstreaming unravelled: The case of DDRR in Liberia, Helen Basini . - Postscript: Challenges and opportunities for forwarding gender, peace, and security, Edward Newman and Karl DeRouen