Women Waging Peace in a Post-election Conflict: the Case of Naivasha, Nakuru County, 2007-2017.
Abstract
This project sought to examine women waging peace in Naivasha. Women are the most
affected by post-election violence. However, Women are not visible in the management of
these conflicts; they are sidelined from the peace-building processes in the Country. This is
despite the crucial role that women play in day-to-day life as peacekeepers both in the family
and in society at large. The study's goals were to analyse the relationship between women and
electoral conflict in Kenya, to look into the roles performed by women in promoting peace in
Naivasha, and to evaluate the success and obstacles faced by these efforts. The study used both
primary and secondary data in a qualitative manner. Albrecht Schnabel and Amara
Tabyshalieva's Defying Victimhood Theory, which was published in their book Women in
Post-Conflict Peacebuilding, was employed in this study. The theory has the idea that to
achieve peace, mechanisms must be in place under which inequalities and injustices
experienced before, during, and after the conflict are dealt with. The findings of the study were
that women groups in Naivasha addressed the psycho-social wants of female survivors of the
ensuing electoral skirmishes of 2008 in conjunction with international organizations, they were
instrumental in managing the ensuing conflict by playing a moderating role in the conflict, they
organized critical canvassing for structural measures to address the conflict and women were
able to organize themselves into community-based organizations where they would undertake
mediation and training activities, shared their experiences about mediation in very direct and
physical ways such as telling the men to stop fighting and committing cross-ethnic arsonist
attacks. Women organizations were also instrumental in managing the ensuing conflict by
playing a moderating role in conflict. This entailed the provision of spiritual support and
counselling to those affected by the conflict as well as providing humanitarian relief to the
worst-hit areas. Hence women in Naivasha played a critical role in post-election conflict
management, however, these roles continue to be overlooked.
Publisher
University of Nairobi
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United StatesUsage Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/Collections
- Faculty of Arts [657]
The following license files are associated with this item: