Publications
- Gender in Transition: Common Sense, Women, and War
- Download: PDF 138.23 KB
- by Theidon, Kimberly S.
- On August 28, 2003, the Commissioners of the Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission
(PTRC) submitted their Final Report to President Alejandro Toledo and the
nation, thus joining the growing list of countries that have implemented truth commissions
as a means of transitioning from a period of armed conflict and authoritarian rule
towards the founding of a procedural democracy. The PTRC shared several features
with the Guatemalan and South African commissions that preceded it. All three commissions
were considered "gender sensitive" because they actively sought out women’s
experiences of violence. This focus reflected the desire to write more "inclusive truths,"
as well as changes in international jurisprudence. In this paper, the author draws upon
research she has conducted since 1995 in Peru to explore the commissioning of truth
and some implications in terms of women and war. She examines what constitutes "gender
sensitive" research strategies, as well as the ways in which truth commissions have
incorporated these strategies into their work. Truth and memory are indeed gendered,
but not in any common-sensical way. Thus the author hopes to offer a more nuanced
understanding of the gendered dimensions of war.
- Publication Type: Published Paper
- Publisher: Journal of Human Rights
- Published Date: January 2007
- Field of Interest: Global Issues
- "Gender in Transition: Common Sense, Women and War." Journal of Human Rights 6, no. 4 (2007): 453-478.
