Nyamongo, Grace, Post Doc

By Katherine Harrison on 21 May | 0 comments

GEXcel project: Economic and Sexual Violence against Women: Analyzing the Impacts of the Post-Elections Ethnic Violence

Political ethnic conflicts have been experienced in Kenya since the early 1990s when there was a change from one party to a multi-party political system. Yet, the ethnic conflicts that followed the 2007 post- elections included a level of violence not experienced in Kenya since the independence movement of 1963. During the period of violence, many people -- especially those who settled among different ethnic groups were displaced, thousands lost their lives, and property was destroyed by rival political-ethnic communities. Women and girls were sexually assaulted. Rape was used as a weapon by opposing sides to humiliate and disintegrate these groups. Many scholars have analyzed political conflicts in Kenya but few have focused on the impacts of violence against women. This paper explores these impacts and the experiences of Kenyan women from various ethnic groups.

Biographical notes:

Grace Bosibori Nyamongo is visiting assistant Professor at Dartmouth College. She attended Kenyatta University and University of Nairobi before receiving her doctoral degree in Women’s Studies at York University, Canada.  She is the author of “Gendered Silence: Sexual Violence against women during ethnic Conflicts in Kenya” in Asian Women Journal Vol 23, No.4 (2007).  Her next article “Female Circumcision in Kenya: A Crime against Women” is forthcoming (2009).  Grace’s research interests include women and work in Sub-Saharan Africa, violence against women, gender and development, gender issues, and African Diaspora.