Women as embodied infrastructures: self-led organisations sustaining the lives of female victims of conflict-related sexual violence in Colombia

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Abstract

The article looks at women self-led organisations as embodied infrastructures (Clisby & Holdsworth, 2016) supporting the lives of victim-survivors of conflict-related sexual violence in Colombia. Focusing on three elements that form the concept of women as embodied infrastructures namely, i) the roles
women play as mentors and role models for other women, ii) women’s work in women’s services, networks, and organisations, iii) radical care, I argue that women as embodied infrastructures provide important listening and learning safe-spaces where victim-survivors can regain self-love, a political
understanding of their victimization, access peer support, gain citizenship skills, and began to heal. By enabling victims-survivors to become agents in the process of rebuilding their lives, their livelihoods, and their wider ecologies the work of these organisations promotes gender-transformative change and is central for peacebuilding and transitional justice processes.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)194-208
Number of pages15
JournalJournal of Peacebuilding and Development
Volume17
Issue number2
Early online date18 May 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Aug 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the H2020 European Research Council, (grant number 724518).

Funding Information:
I would like to thank Dr Luisa Dietrich Ortega, Professor Suzanne Clisby, and Professor Janine Clark for their comments on earlier versions of the manuscript. I thank the peer-reviewers and the editor of the journal for their careful reading and kind comments, which greatly improved the manuscript. Finally, I would like to thank all the organisations and women in Colombia that made my research possible, Ruta Pacifica de las Mujeres, Profamilia, Red de Mujeres Victimas y Profesionales, Colombia Diversa, Luz Maria Londono, and Nancy Gomez. The author disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the H2020 European Research Council, (grant number 724518).

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2022.

Keywords

  • women-led organisations
  • embodied infrastructures
  • peacebuilding
  • Colombia

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