Challenging Conceptions

Kimberly Theidon, PhD, Henry J. Leir Professor in International Humanitarian Studies, Co-Director, Gender and Intersectional Analysis and Women's/Femmes' Leadership Program, the Fletcher School of Global Affairs, Tufts UniversityDyan Mazurana, PhD, Research Professor, Co-Director of Gender and Intersectional Analysis and Women's/Femmes' Leadership Program, Fletcher School of Global Affairs; Research Professor, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy; Research Fellow, World Peace Foundation; Research Director, Feinstein International Center, Tufts UniversityFriedman School of Nutrition Science and PolicyDipali Anumol is a doctoral candidate at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, where she earned her Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy in 2019.

Context-sensitive long-term work with children born of conflict-related sexual violence should provide greater opportunities for them to express themselves in their own time, on their own terms and maybe even through means that go beyond verbal accounts. As Mazurana's work in Mozambique reveals, when healing from violence, words can sometimes fall short. Other means that allow the processing of these experiences can be more attuned to the victims' needs. Along this line, she further urges us to look at the forms of emotional, social and spiritual support already present in these children's communities. Close collaboration between those already working with local resources and practices and those who come to assist these children from outside can offer a promising way forward.

• Ch.1 Challenging Conceptions Part One - Life Cycles: Children Born of Wartime Rape Across Time and Space Ch. 2 "They're Called Bui Doi": (Re)framing the politics of Amerasians and Children Born of War Ch. 3 Reconstructing the "Small Family" after Democratic Kampuchea: Forced Marriage, Ritual Renewal and Parent-Child Entanglement in Cambodia Ch. 4 Unintended Consequences or Desired Outcome? Children Born of War and their Role in National Rebirth Part Two - Beyond Stigma: Gender, Kinship and Belonging in Northern Uganda Ch. 5 Gender, Kinship and Children Born of Rape in Patriarchal Northern Uganda Ch. 6 Kinship and belonging among Children Born of War in northern Uganda: "I am a child who is not from here" Ch. 7 Missing Fathers: Children Born of Wartime Rape and Their Perspectives on Fathers and Fatherhood in Northern Uganda Part Three - (In)visibility: Concealment, Disclosure, and the Question of Categories Ch. 8 Triptych: Seeing Children Born of Wartime Rape Ch. 9 The Unknown Youth of Al-Shabaab: Children Born from Al-Shabaab Sexual Violence Ch. 10 Contested Identities: Gender, Reproduction and War in Colombia Ch. 11 The Complexity of Sexual Violence, Birthing and Status after the Fall of the Caliphate Part Four - Transformations: Intergenerational Reconciliation and Justice Ch. 12 "Where would you send the pain?": Agency and Resilience in Three Children Born of War in Bosnia and Herzegovina Ch. 13 The Role of Spirituality and Ritual in the Acceptance of Children born of Conflict-Related Sexual Violence Ch. 14 Moving Beyond Rwanda's "Children of Bad Memory": A Conversation on Working with Mothers and Children Born of Wartime Rape Ch. 15 Local Inspiration, Global Implementation: Upholding the Rights of Children Born of Conflict-Related Sexual Violence