Browsing by Author "Nthakomwa, Martin"

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    Marriage for the ‘New Woman’ from the Lord's Resistance Army: Experiences of female ex-abductees in Acholi region of Uganda☆
    (Women's Studies International Forum, 2018) Kiconco, Allen; Nthakomwa, Martin
    A number of studies have documented and analyzed forced marriage patterns and realities of girls within the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). However, the impact of wartime abduction, captivity and forced marriage on forging and sustaining post-LRA marriage relationships has been under-researched. This article contributes to addressing this gap by examining how stigma against female LRA ex-abductees influences their prospects for choices in marriage as they seek to reintegrate in communities of Uganda. Drawing on findings from Acholi area of northern Uganda, the article discusses how cultural and traditional perspectives stigmatize female ex-abductees, considered as ‘unacceptable’, ‘stained’ and therefore ‘unmarriageable’. The findings suggest that stigma adversely affects access to key community relationships such as marriage, thereby hindering social and economic opportunities for recovery and reintegration among the female ex-abductees in Uganda.
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    Wartime Captivity and Homecoming: Culture, Stigma and Coping Strategies of Formerly Abducted Women in Post-conflict Northern Uganda.
    (Disasters, 2021) Kiconco, Allen; Nthakomwa, Martin
    One of the three durable solutions to mass displacement preferred by the UNHCR and leading humanitarian agencies is that victims return to their home communities, resulting into meaningful reintegration. It is believed that families and communities provide the best hope for recovery and reintegration post displacement due to familiarity, care and shared culture. Yet these ‘places of hope and comfort’, sometimes defined and shaped by ethnic culture and values, can also potentially provide a hostile environment in which stigma can flourish. The women formerly abducted by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in northern Uganda find that achieving meaningful reintegration into their communities is a distant prospect despite being the home culture they once shared. The stigmatization of formerly abducted persons by the home community members who have never been abducted renders them ‘outsiders’ upon return to their home communities. Meaningful relationships with fellow community members and access to cultural, social and economic systems are hampered by stigma about the women's traumatic past episode as abductees. This experience has significant implications for these women, negotiating their journey to recovery and reintegration into home communities.