In this week’s episode Ben speaks to Erin Baines and Camile Oliviera about their research on the social status of children born as the result of ‘forced marriage’ during the Ugandan civil war of the 1990s and early 2000s, and attempts by some of the fathers to assume responsibility for their care and well-being.
Children ‘born of war’ are increasingly recognized as a particular victim group in relevant international policy frameworks. Their social status falls somewhere between the victimization of their mother and perpetration of their father. Given the circumstances of their birth, they often experience social rejection and loss of identity with a long-term impact on their well-being.
In fieldwork carried out in northern Ugandan communities between 2016 and 2019, Baines and Oliviera gathered the experiences of former combatants in the Lord’s Resistance Army, a rebel group with links to widespread human rights abuses including the abduction of children, and their families.
Warning: sensitive content including references to sexual violence in this episode may upset or offend.
Read the International Affairs article: