The Demobilization and Reintegration of Women Combatants,
Wives of Male Soldiers and War Widows:
A Checklist

Source: Vanessa Farr "Gendering Demilitarization."
Forthcoming

Introduction:

This checklist aims to draw attention to the particular challenges that face women combatants, the wives of male soldiers and war widows during the demobilization phase and the process of reintegration that follows. It is intended to assist planners in designing and implementing gender-sensitive long-term support.

The processes of demobilization and reintegration take place under a wide variety of conditions, and it would be impossible to address each of the circumstance-specific challenges which might arise. This list raises issues which frequently disappear in the planning stages of demobilization and reintegration, and aims to provoke further thinking and debate on the best ways to address different women’s varied needs. Since the needs of child soldiers are not always comparable to those of women and men, this list does not pay special attention to them.

It is essential to recognize that not all women, whether ex-combatants, wives of ex-fighters, or war widows, will meet similar challenges after demobilization. The differences between women their capacities, experience, length of service, connection to, or disconnection from communities of origin, number of dependants, geographic location after demobilization, and levels of physical and psychological stress, will all influence how well they will manage their new lives. Given this, when training and rehabilitation programs are planned, they should expect to encounter, and aim to accommodate, differences.

Programs need to address the needs of women ex-combatants as well as women who are "wives" or "widows" of combatants (these women have not always been officially married to the male fighter, and might be especially vulnerable because of this). Programs also need to take into account the needs of women who follow male partners to a new geographical location. Trying to adapt to a new culture where you are perceived as an "outsider" brings with it particular challenges. Planners should keep this in mind and aim to facilitate this group’s transition into their new community.

Without a consideration of how communities of soldiers interact with communities of civilians, demobilisation as a peacekeeping measure is likely to fail in the long run. A specific challenge for planners may be to address the fact that life in the armed forces was relatively egalitarian. Reintegrating into a society with rigidly gendered social structures will put enormous stress on women who have been accustomed to freer modes of behavior and fairer divisions of labor. The attitudes of these women after the conflict ends may lead to social stigmatization from communities who resent or do not understand this freedom. With careful planning, however, such differences can be mobilized to lead to positive change and greater equality for the whole society.

Gender-Sensitive Planning of Demobilization and Reintegration Support

Although the primary intent of demobilization is to remove combatants from their fighting roles as quickly as possible, in the planning stages, it is imperative to consider how returning soldiers will be received by the civilian community. The period of rehabilitation and reintegration will be a long one. Recognizing this from the outset is an imperative part of ensuring long-term stability and peacebuilding. The reintegration period is particularly important in the case of women, who might be especially stigmatized as fighters or war widows.

In the planning process, the following questions must be considered:

1. Demobilization of Troops
   
   
   • Who is demobilized and who is retained as part of the restructured force in the post-conflict zone?
   • Do women have the same right to choose to be demobilized as men?
   • Do phasing-out programs include women soldiers?
     
     
2. Funding
   
   
   • Is there sustainable funding to ensure the long-term success of the demobilization and demilitarization processes? Attention should be given to innovative practices like making use of revolving credit and other such schemes.
   • Are special funds allocated to women, and if not, what measures are in place to ensure that their needs will receive proper attention?
     
     
3. Women’s Political Participation
   
   
   • Is there a commitment to establish a quota of women at peace negotiations, particularly if there are non-party or NGO attendees invited?
   • Are women fighters adequately represented? Do existing veterans’ associations recognise women’s needs?
   • Are mechanisms in place to ensure the recognition and political participation of female ex-combatants after elections?
   • Are women equipped to participate in democratic civil and political structures and supported in their political activities?
   • Has the collaboration of women leaders (local and national) in assisting ex-combatants and widows’ return to civilian life been enlisted?
     
     
4. Networking to Assist Reintegration

   Although priority is usually placed on training ex-fighters to become economically independent, combatants frequently experience enormous difficulty in reintegrating into social networks. Unless an holistic approach is taken, the challenges of negotiating a new social role may overwhelm all other efforts to reintegrate soldiers. Reintegration is not merely a stage between conflict and development; reconstructing a society after war requires a long-term process of role negotiation and psychological rehabilitation. Without suitable emphasis on this aspect of post-conflict transition, developmental goals are less likely to succeed.

   • Has the support of local, regional and national women’s organisations been enlisted to aid reintegration?
   • If so, are existing women’s organisations trained to understand the needs and experiences of ex-combatants? This may include negotiation or brokering to assist non-military women to understand the lives of the ex-combatants, as well as providing long-term support and assistance to ex-combatants through helping them join non-military community structures.
   • Are women ex-combatants made aware of these organisations and able to access them?
   • Is the expertise of women ex-combatants which may be non-traditional recognised, respected and utilised by other women? How can this be facilitated?
   • Is there space in women’s organisations for healing and reconciliation work in general, and can existing infrastructures be used, in particular, to assist the reconciliation and reintegration of ex-combatants from different factions?
   • Can women ex-combatant’s reintegration be connected to broader strategies aimed at women’s post-conflict development in order to prevent resentment against fighters as a "privileged" group?
   • Have women in the post-conflict zone already begun the process of reconstruction after war?
   • Can their expertise combine with the experiences and expectations of women fighters to guide the development of strategies for demobilisation?
   • Can women’s networks (local, national, regional and international) be approached for reintegration support?
   • Is adequate use made of radio networks to educate local people about those who are being reintegrated, and thus to alleviate potential tensions? Are women’s experiences adequately represented on radio?
     
     
5. Economic Concerns

   Women’s participation in the economy is often overlooked. Women may be especially marginalized when they are not offered formal accreditation for skills gained during the period of armed struggle. This can have the effect of ghettoizing them into poorly paid and unprotected work. Their unrecognized skills are wasted and their creative efforts to maintain themselves and their families are overlooked. Both forms of exclusion represent an immeasurable loss in a post-conflict context.

   When women’s labor in the home is uncounted and when their labor outside the home (such as food production) is seen as merely an extension of their domestic duties, perceptions of women as dependent on male wage earners are reinforced. On the other hand, women who do achieve a measure of economic success may experience increased violence from less successful male partners. They may also become the targets of community resentment. This is among the reasons why, while women’s access to economic independence should receive emphasis, reconstruction activities must aim for the rehabilitation of the whole society.

   • Does a functioning economic infrastructure exist in the region? If so, how is economically active labor measured (i.e., is household and agricultural labor reflected in the GDP so that women’s contributions are properly measured)?
   • Are women in informal economic activities considered (by themselves and others) as employed or productively active members of society?
   • Do plans to rebuild the economy pay proper attention to women’s potential contributions and economic needs?
   • If a social security system exists, are women ex-combatants informed about it and do they have independent access to it?
   • If a labor office exists, can women ex-fighters access it easily? Does it target their particular needs and promote their skills?
   • Do women ex-combatants have access to legal aid or support to assist them in combating discrimination (in both private and public spheres)?
   • Can self-employment be turned to women ex-combatant’s benefit through innovative economic support systems (such as rotational credit schemes and "barefoot bankers") and the development and formalization of trade and investment networks owned and operated by women?
   • Are women ex-fighters more severely affected by a generally poor labor market/high unemployment than men? To facilitate women’s employment, are feasibility studies / assessments of economic growth direction undertaken before re-training is begun?
   • Can the economy support the kind of training women might ask for during the demobilization period? For instance, they may wish to be trained as nurses and teachers. Before training begins, it is necessary to determine whether a healthcare or education infrastructure still exist to support workers in this sector.
   • Have obstacles, such as employers refusing to hire women ex-combatants, or narrow expectations of what work women are permitted to do, been taken into account before re-training is offered?

Gender-Sensitive Implementation of Demobilization and Reintegration Support

1. The encampment phase
   
   
   • Are cantonment sites women-friendly: i.e., are women’s training needs, their need for childcare, their safety, their need for specific sanitary facilities and specialized healthcare recognized at the outset?
   • Is domestic labor fairly divided between male and female combatants so that women can take equal advantage of briefings, re-training and other facilities at the site?
   • Will civilian society accept and accredit training programs offered in the camps?
   • Are support workers trained to recognize and address women’s needs, including their political needs?
   • Is the threat of sexualized violence within the camp recognized and dealt with?
   • Are men offered education and counseling on the prevention of sexualized violence?
   • Are men and women offered equal access to education about HIV/AIDS?
   • Are interviews designed to collect data specific to women’s experiences? (This data could be significant for planning purposes and also for later planning and monitoring).
   • Are the political needs of encamped women adequately represented at government level?
   • If male soldiers are in the majority and demobilization is slower than expected, what contingency plans are in place to attend to the needs of women who move to the cantonment area, either to join partners or as domestic/sex workers?
   • Are women’s particular security needs recognized when planning their transport home?
     
     
2. Resettlement
   
   
   • Do women have the right to choose where they will live? I.e., can they elect to return to land from which they or their partner came, or to move to semi-urban or urban areas where they may have more freedom from traditional gender roles.
     
     
3. Financial payment
   
   
   • If money is disbursed as part of the demobilization program, are the different funding needs / spending patterns of women recognized and accommodated (i.e., do women prefer large payments of cash or monthly disbursal?)
   • Do women have geographic access to banks as well as the right to open and manage a private bank account? If not, what measures can be put in place to safeguard their money?
   • Are women trained as "barefoot bankers"?
   • Are women’s traditional forms of money management recognized and supported (e.g., rotational loan and credit schemes)?
   • Are single or widowed women able to access social security and pension schemes?
   • Are women equipped to manage money in day-to-day life, i.e., paying for services, etc?
     
     
4. Education and Retraining schemes
   
   
   • What are the training needs of women ex-combatants, and who defines these?
   • Are women informed of different job options and the potential drawbacks of entering previously "male" workplaces?
   • Do the kinds of training packages offered to women reflect local gender norms and standards about gender-appropriate labor, or attempt to broaden them? Does this benefit or hinder women’s economic independence?
   • Do training programs teach women to manufacture and repair labor-saving devices that might free up time used on domestic labor and permit them to engage in activities that earn money?
   • Is childcare and other family support (e.g., elder care) available for women attending re-training programs?
   • Are educational opportunities equally available to female and male children of ex-combatants or widows?
     
     
5. Medical, Health and Psychological needs
   
   
   • Are mechanisms in place to certify or otherwise recognize the expertise of female "barefoot doctors"?
   • Are women in the medical services encouraged to focus on women’s health needs?
   • What are women’s specific health and psychological needs in the context of demobilization? Are they recognized as different from those of men?
   • Do women have a right to determine their own fertility and sexual availability, and is this recognized and promoted?
   • Are separate counseling and health facilities available to women and men?
   • Are women’s specific reproductive health care needs met?
   • Is there awareness of sexualized violence against women combatants, both during the conflict and after, and are there facilities for treatment, counseling and protection?
   • Is the problem of HIV/AIDS addressed, from the perspectives both of education and of care practices?
   • Are mechanisms in place for community mental health practices (such as cleansing ceremonies) to contribute to the long-term psychological rehabilitation of ex-combatants; and how do these address women’s specific suffering (often a result of sexualized violence)?
     
     

6. 1. Nutrition, Accommodation, Land Use and Economic Activities (for ex-combatants resettled in rural areas)

      One of the greatest needs of ex-combatants and their families is access to land and housing. In securing these, the specific needs of women have to be taken into account, particularly when traditional practices are not willing to accommodate women-headed households.

      • Studies show that negotiation space is often opened after conflict ends. Can this opportunity be used to get new land and property rights for women?
      • Are single or widowed women ex-combatants recognized as heads of household and permitted access to existing housing and land?
      • How is this access determined, and by whom?
      • How secure is their tenure, and what measures can be taken to protect women ex-combatants or war widows from being forced into casual labor on land which is not their own?
      • Are legal measures in place to protect their access to quality land and water?
      • Are there water sources close to the land?
      • Are women permitted all usufructuary rights, including the right to farm cash crops?
      • Can they choose how to dispose of crops grown on their land (i.e., for family needs or for marketing), and exercise control over cash money earned from agriculture?
      • Is women’s agricultural activity measured and acknowledged as part of the economic activity of the country? What benefits might accrue from this?
      • Are women permitted to farm animals? If not, how does this affect their nutrition and also their ability to work the land?
      • Do women have equal access to communally-owned farm implements and water pumping equipment, and can women own such equipment?
      • Can traditional taboos on access and usage be negotiated?
      • Do training programs during the encampment phase include adequate information on nutrition, and do they recognize and work around traditional farming patterns, nutritional taboos, etc?
      • Do re-training programs offer women ex-combatants and war widows adequate access to information on farming cash crops?
        
        
   2. Accommodation and economic activities (for ex-combatants resettled in urban areas)
      
      
      • Can single or widowed women sign rental agreements (housing, telephone, etc)?
      • Is there adequate childcare / elder care for women pursuing economic activities outside the home?
      • Do businesses and industries accept and employ women ex-combatants, especially those trained in non-traditional income generating activities?
      • What measures have been taken to prevent the ghettoization of women ex-fighters and war widows on the fringes of the economy? This includes excessive reliance on NGO activity, which might become a substitute for long-term participation in the labor market.
      • What measures can be taken to avoid stigmatization of economically active women, especially those who have also served in combat?
      • What measures are taken to address women’s security in urban areas