Women in Warfare: The Role of Discrimination and Humiliation in a Culture of War

The aim of this study is to test the impact of social discrimination on poli-victimized women within a culture of conflict. In Colombia even after successful conflict resolution and an established agreement over resources between the main opposition armed group (FARC) and the Government, intergroup relations remain damaged, strongly affecting women. Formal agreements have not fully resolved issues such as discrimination, responsibility, victimization and justice in poli-victimized women who have been used as a weapon of, and not only in, war. In this context, the Ruta Pacífica de Mujeres (RPM) supported poli-victimized women to deal violence and promote their political and social participation. The consequences of violence are long-lasting, severe, and have deep repercussions for women, their families, and entire communities. We conducted a quantitative study among 100 women who have been poli-victimized and participated in the RPM and 100 women not associated with RPM. Subsequently we performed in-depth interviews in the Eje Cafetero districts. Our results confirmed that experiencing stigmatization and humiliation largely explains the detrimental psychological effects of violence, particularly on posttraumatic stress disorder. However, when the mediating role of social participation was introduced, results show an increase in health and a decrease in sense of discrimination and humiliation. Findings provided support for the effectiveness of including social participation in war torn situations.