Critical assessment of the socio-economic effects of civil war on women: a case study of Somali women refugees in Dadaab, Kenya (1991-2007)

Abstract

This study was premised on the fact that the effects of civil wars on civilians is mixed because they occasion severe socio-economic losses while at the same time inaugurating a long term process through which civilians in a polity secure their liberation from traditional structures largely viewed as oppressive. A paradox therefore exists. Civil wars turn out to be both a curse but also a blessing to civilians in the long run. This study focused on the conditions of Somali refugee women in the Dadaab camps Modernization provided the theoretical and conceptual guide. Data obtained from the three refugee camps in Dadaab - Ifo, Hagadera and Dagahaley - showed that refugee women have suffered immensely at three different stages, that is, in their villages/localities in Somalia when the war broke out in 1991, during their flight to Kenya through Liboi town, and eventually upon their settlement in the camps. Refugee women in Dadaab have faced the problems of rape, poverty, trauma, and dearth of basic necessities for subsistence such as food, shelter, and security. Women have also suffered a sudden shift of gender roles which demands that they take up male responsibilities at a time when oppressive cultural practices such as female genital mutilation, early marriage, divorce/separations, etc are still religiously upheld by the Somali refugee community. However, the dislocations wrought by the civil war and the consequent movement of the war survivors to the camp has put the refugee women as well as other refugees to the direct aid by international and local agencies. Various organizations and agencies operating in Dadaab has made positive efforts to increase the educational and awareness levels of women in various spheres including legal and medical. A combination of police surveillance and application of international and national laws has also improved the protection of women and ensured slow but steady demise of the oppressive traditional practices. The aggregate impact of local and international interventions, coupled with unconscious adjustment of the refugee women to changed social context has led to their emergence as a more liberated individuals compared to their counterparts who remained still live in most parts of Somalia. The study thus confirms the hypothesis that mixed impact of civil wars on women results from the covert pressure to abandon traditional practices and world views that are contradictory to the demands of modernity as advanced by the developed Western world.