Violence in the Post-Conflict State, Phase II: Gender-based violence in post-2001 Afghanistan

The PhD project will constitute the second phase of the larger, RCN-funded project Violence in the Post-Conflict State. The PhD looks specifically at gender-based violence in post-2001 Afghanistan, seeking to understand the impact of decades of war and th e particular features of the post-Taliban order on womens vulnerability to violence both in public and private places. Although gender-based violence in Afghanistan is to a large extent rooted in patriarchal gender relations, there is a need historicise t hese relations and examine how they have been shaped, and continue to be so, by larger processes of change related to the war and ongoing strife. The project will address these questions by focusing on three set of factors that appear central in structu ring the nature and incident of violence against Afghan women in the post-2001 environment: -The militarisation of society: What are the effects of the extensive militarisation of Afghan society, as manifested in sustained insecurity, the erosion of tr aditional dispute settlement mechanisms, and the empowerment of warlords, on gender-based violence? -The post -Taliban politics of gender: How do the politicisation of gender relations in the context of political and military contest translate into targ eted violence against women outside their families? -The legacy of war-time socioeconomic transformations: What is the impact of war-time social transformations on the nexus of household and intra-household poverty-dynamics, female support networks and g ender-based violence? The PhD will explore these issues through fieldwork in two Afghan provinces, Herat and Faryab. Data collection will be through interviews with politicians, government officials, local leaders, women?s organisations, journalists, ai d workers and other relevant informants, as well as in-depth, multiple interviews with Afghan women of various ages and backgrounds.