Women

As Angolanas

Upphovsperson:	Lagerström, Birgitta
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2009
Ämnesord:	Angola, Women, Women's role, Social work, Socialt arbete

The first time that I met Angolan women was in 1976 when Ruth Neto and Maria Mambo Café visited Stockholm, gathered by Svenska Kvinnors Vänsterförbund (Women’s Association of the Swedish Left, SKV). In 1978 I received a journalism scholarship by SIDA (Swedish International Development Agency) and spent six weeks in Angola to get acquainted to know the Organization of Angolan Women (OMA, Organizacão de Mulher Angolana). I travelled to Huambo with two OMA officials: Irene Neto, (sister of the first president of the Angolan republic, Augustinho Neto) and Luisa Chongolola. The visit to Angola resulted in a book, jointly written with Hillevi Nilsson of AGIS (The Africa Groups of Sweden) published in Swedish, about the OMA in the form of written testimonies about the role of the Angolan woman. I returned to Angola invited to a congress of the OMA in 1983, and later, in 1990, to work in Luanda for the OMA until 1993. I made joint articles with Idalinda Rodrigues who at that time was an employee of the OMA. Helena Cunha acted as consultant regarding portuguese language. All the articles have been published/appeared in the Jornal de Angola. The photographer Cinquenta of the Jornal de Angola also helped me get to know Luanda well. We tried publishing a book in 1992, but this was not possible due to the reemergence of war in Luanda in the end of October of that year. The texts were written between 1979 and 1992, and AGIS added a chapter in 2006.

Sexual abuse survivors and the complex of traditional healing : (G)local prospects in the aftermath of an African war

Upphovsperson:	Utas, Mats
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Conflict, Displacement and Transformation | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2009
Ämnesord:	Civil war, sexual abuse, Women, victims, Humanitarian assistance, Traditional medicine, healing, Post-conflict reconstruction, Reconciliation, Sierra Leone, Peace and conflict research, Freds- och konfliktforskning

In its efforts to assist post-conflict societies in africa the international aid community has acitvely promoted projects of psycho-social healing among people traumatized during wars and violent conflict. To a large degree these projects have been established in the tradtion of Western psychology. More recently, however, it has been realized in order to help survivors of war effectivley it is necessary to adapt projects and enhance “local” psycho-social healing. This policy report locates the structures – with local legitimacy – that are available to young people who experienced sexual abuse during the Sierra Leone civil war (1991–2002). To this end, this booklet discusses a healing complex that comprises a number of overlapping actors, including herbalists, Zoe Mammies (heads of the female secret societies), Mori-men (Muslim healers); Karamokos (Muslim teachers) and Christian pastors. CONTENTS 1. Introduction 2. Scope of the study 2.1 Methods 2.2 Research ethichs 3. Limitations of the study 4. War-related sexual abuse 4.1 Quantitative findings 4.2 Qualitative findings 4.3 Turning a page? Sexual abuse in post-war reality 5. Variations of traditional healing 5.1 Notes on mental illness in Sierra Leone 5.2 The healing complex6. Traditional healing of sexual abuse 6.1 From the girls’ and young women’s perspective 6.2 The herbalist 6.3 The Karamoko and the Mori-man 6.4 The Soweh mammy and female herbalist (Kuntumoi musu) 6.5 Cleansing the bush 6.6 The pastor 6.7 Talking trauma – notes on counselling 7. Findings and recommendations 7.1 Social approaches towards the sexually abused 7.2 Girls’ and young women’s practices related totraditional healing 7.3 Findings on traditional healers 7.4 Recommendations Appendices

Women informal traders in Harare and the struggle for survival in an environment of economic reforms

Upphovspersoner:	Mupedziswa, Rodreck | Gumbo, Perpetua
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2001
Ämnesord:	Structural adjustment, Informal sector, trade, Women, Household consumption, Survival strategies, Zimbabwe, Harare, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP

This report summarises the results of the fourth and final round of interviews carried out among informal sector women traders in Harare, Zimbabwe as part of a longitudinal study of their conditions of work and livelihood in the context of economic crisis and structural adjustment. The evidence which was available from the interview points to a deepening social crisis in Zimbabwe as attested to by the increasing crisis of subsistence and livelihood among the overwhelming majorette of the informal sector workers. Far from being the terrain where sections of the populace might be able to find economic liberation, the informal sector is, in fact characterised by serious internal differentiation, very low incomes, and an over-saturation that results in the inability of the women survey to do anything other than struggle at the margins for basic survival.

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