Paper short abstract:

This paper examines women's understandings of peacebuilding, drawing on research with Kenyan victims of human rights violations. While some were local peace-builders, opportunities to upscale this work are constrained by ongoing violence, the gendered nature of everyday life and political tribalism.

Paper long abstract:

This paper examines women's experiences and understandings of peacebuilding and development in violence-affected communities. It draws on qualitative research, conducted in January and February 2017 in Kenya's Bongoma, West Pokot and Kisumu Counties, with female victims/survivors of gross human rights violations during the post-election violence of 2007/08. 1,100 people were killed, 660,000 displaced and 40,000 victims of gender-based violence in a political-ethnic conflict that reflected historical and present injustices and inequalities. The research explored female victims' reparative and development needs and their own senses of what is necessary to achieve sustainable peace in their communities and in Kenya more broadly. This perspective is important because women are particularly marginalised during and after conflict and, despite the evolution of the Women Peace and Security framework and its regional and national counterparts, their voices are not always heard or studied (including in the 'local turn in peacebuilding' literature).

While the women in this study were victims of multiple forms of violence, their experiences led some of them to become active peacebuilders, for example by establishing community dialogues and victim support groups, educating about cultural practices and women's rights, or participating in peace and security committees. While acknowledging that scalar frames such as 'local', 'national' and 'global' are socially constructed, I argue that, although the women exercise considerable agency as empowered 'local' peacebuilders, opportunities to 'upscale' this work are constrained by ongoing structural and direct violence, the highly gendered nature of everyday life, political tribalism and ethnic marginalisation.