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Perceptions of sexual violence: A discourse analysis of documents from the Peace and Security Council of the African Union 2010-2020

Melin-Higgins, Freya LU (2021) STVM25 20211
Department of Political Science
Abstract
This thesis dives into the issue of conflict-related sexual violence through the empirical case of the African Union and its Peace and Security Council (PSC), aiming at understanding how conflict-related sexual violence is constructed within the PSC between 2010-2020. Applying a feminist power theory and through a discourse analysis, the thesis asks four open-ended questions regarding: conflicts, perpetrators, victims and solutions to the materials consisting of meeting documents from the PSC. The results show a broad understanding and variety of conflicts discussed with cross-cutting themes touched upon. Non-state actors and AU-troops were most frequently viewed as perpetrators. A wide range of victims were discussed with a dual... (More)
This thesis dives into the issue of conflict-related sexual violence through the empirical case of the African Union and its Peace and Security Council (PSC), aiming at understanding how conflict-related sexual violence is constructed within the PSC between 2010-2020. Applying a feminist power theory and through a discourse analysis, the thesis asks four open-ended questions regarding: conflicts, perpetrators, victims and solutions to the materials consisting of meeting documents from the PSC. The results show a broad understanding and variety of conflicts discussed with cross-cutting themes touched upon. Non-state actors and AU-troops were most frequently viewed as perpetrators. A wide range of victims were discussed with a dual perception of victims as ‘weak’ and ‘survivors/agents’ as the overarching victim-characteristics. Lastly, the main solutions for sexual violence were ending impunity, alongside a smaller discourse of dealing with root causes of structural gender inequality. The PSC neglected parts of the accountability for conflict-related sexual violence as they overlooked governmental forces as perpetrators as well as low accountability within AU-mandated peace operations. The conclusion is that the PSC balances between understanding structural power assumptions embedded in sexual violence but simultaneously still adhering to a narrow understanding of sexual crimes. (Less)
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author
Melin-Higgins, Freya LU
supervisor
organization
course
STVM25 20211
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
Sexual violence, conflict-related sexual violence, African Union, Peace and Security Council, discourse analysis, feminist power theory
language
English
id
9045065
date added to LUP
2021-07-06 11:04:07
date last changed
2021-07-06 11:04:07
@misc{9045065,
  abstract     = {{This thesis dives into the issue of conflict-related sexual violence through the empirical case of the African Union and its Peace and Security Council (PSC), aiming at understanding how conflict-related sexual violence is constructed within the PSC between 2010-2020. Applying a feminist power theory and through a discourse analysis, the thesis asks four open-ended questions regarding: conflicts, perpetrators, victims and solutions to the materials consisting of meeting documents from the PSC. The results show a broad understanding and variety of conflicts discussed with cross-cutting themes touched upon. Non-state actors and AU-troops were most frequently viewed as perpetrators. A wide range of victims were discussed with a dual perception of victims as ‘weak’ and ‘survivors/agents’ as the overarching victim-characteristics. Lastly, the main solutions for sexual violence were ending impunity, alongside a smaller discourse of dealing with root causes of structural gender inequality. The PSC neglected parts of the accountability for conflict-related sexual violence as they overlooked governmental forces as perpetrators as well as low accountability within AU-mandated peace operations. The conclusion is that the PSC balances between understanding structural power assumptions embedded in sexual violence but simultaneously still adhering to a narrow understanding of sexual crimes.}},
  author       = {{Melin-Higgins, Freya}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Perceptions of sexual violence: A discourse analysis of documents from the Peace and Security Council of the African Union 2010-2020}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}