Gendering trauma and healing in a post-conflict environment

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Copyright is owned by the Author of the thesis. Permission is given for

a copy to be downloaded by an individual for the purpose of research and

private study only. The thesis may not be reproduced elsewhere without

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Gendering Trauma and Healing in a Post

Conflict Environment: Las Dignas, Mental Health, and the Empowerment of Salvadoran

Women

A dissertation presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of

Doctor of Philosophy

at Massey University, Turitea Campus, Palmerston N01th, New Zealand

Helen Margaret Leslie 1999

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Abstract

There i s no doubt that the experience of war, be i t war between nation states or civil war, varies considerably for both male and females. The twelve year civil war i n El Salvador was no exception. Salvadoran women who worked in various sectors as combatants, urban collaborators, home-makers, nurses, cooks or radi o operators for the guerrilla forces, experienced the war and now experience so-cal led peace, i n ways that relate directly to the construction of the female sex in Salvadoran society. As a result of these gendered experiences many Salvadoran women are suffering trauma despi te the cessation of the war in 1 992. This trauma acts to d isempower these women and to prevent them from actively participating in the i mportant processes of post-con fl ict reconstruction currently taking place in Salvadoran society

This thesi s aims to analyse the approach taken by one Salvadoran organisation for feminist pol i t ical action, Las D ignas, i n heal i ng the trauma o f Salvadoran women.

Reviewing relevant l iterature on gender and development theory and gender and confl ict theory, and drawing on feminist methods in the fieldwork context, it will s how how the healing process employed by Las D ignas i s empowering Salvadoran women at both personal and soci o-political levels.

The concl usions derived from this research process are as fol lows. Firstly, by i ncorporating mental health i nto their gender and development programme, Las Dignas has recognised the importance of a gendered approach to hea l i ng in the post-confl ict context. This form of approach has the potential to empower women to reconstruct their gendered i dentities so that they are able to actively participate i n efforts to eradicate the machismo, i nequali ty and poverty that conti nues to plague Salvadoran society.

Secondly, because it is evident that a gendered approach to heali ng has been successful i n empowering women i n post-conflict El Salvador, there i s a need to i ntegrate the concept of empowerment i nto mental health i nterventions for women i n the n umerous post-conflict environments that also exist in today's world.

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Preface

Coming from a country that has no rel at i ons with El Salvador beyond the trade of dairy products, I am often asked why I chose El Salvador as a topic for my thesis. To answer this I am compel led to relate the course of events that led me to become interested in a country so far away and so removed pol i tically from the country o f my origin, New Zealand.

The cycle of events began. when, after returni ng from a period of overseas travel from 1 989- 1 993, I experienced a form of pol itical awakening and deci ded to undertake post

graduate study in development studi es. In some ways this reflected a desire to understand the i ssues of development and underdevel opment I had observed during my travels, b ut in others, i t was a search to do something about the appall ing state i n which the maj o ri ty of the peoples of our world l i ve.

I n fi nding that studying development ful fil led only a percentage of this desire, I sought also to become i nvolved with development practice. In this vein. I began worki ng as a vol unteer for a progressive New Zealand j ustice and development organi sation by the name of CORSO. Through CORSO I had the privi lege of meeting a number of development practi tioners from around the world, i ncluding Ofelia Lopez.

Ofelia came to New Zealand from El Salvador in 1 995 as a representative of Las O ignas Mujeres por La Dignidad y La Vida ( Women for Dign ity and L i fe). As CORSO had been i nvolved with funding some of Las Dignas' programmes from the early 1 990s, we, along with several other New Zealand i nternational development Non Governmental Organi sations (NGOs), hosted O felia's visit. This i nvolved organising public meeti ngs and media coverage to rai se awareness of the development i ssues faci ng El Salvador fol l owing the signing of the peace accords which ended the c i v i l war in 1 992.

When Ofelia came to stay with me i n Pal merston North l was s imultaneously shocked and i nspired by our meeti ng. Here was a woman with a recent h istory of i ncredible

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IV

suffering. H av i ng been i nvolved with the opposition movement both before and during the civil war, O felia and her family were subjected to continuous repression at the hands of the Salvadoran m i litary. Ofelia' s husband, father and four brothers were assassinated by the m i l itary and Ofelia hersel f was incarcerated for 26 months. While in prison, Ofelia gave b irth to one of her daughters and endured constant physical and psychological torture.

Ofelia's commitment to her people and in particular, the rights of women in El Salvador, did not end, however, with her eventual release from prison and her four year exile in Austral ia. After acting as a representative of the Committee of Mothers and Relat ives of Political Prisoners, Disappeared and Assassinated of El Salvador ( C OMADRES) in Austral ia, she returned to El Salvador fol lowing the signing of peace accords to begin assisting Salvadoran women, ·to change things for themselves and then for others' (Ofelia Lopez, c ited in The Age, 1 9 August : 1 992). This commitment saw her become i nvolved with the newly formed Las Dignas and Ofelia spent the next few years training traditional midwives and promoting women ' s participation in the local democratic process.

Of all the activities of Las Dignas Ofelia spoke of during her time with us in New Zealand, it was perhaps their mental health programme to assist women with heal ing the trauma of the war, that 1 found most inspiring. It seemed to me that here was a programme that not only recognised women's gendered experiences of war, but also, assisted women in reconstructing their gendered identities i nto ones that would see them as strong and capable citizens of Salvadoran society. As it has been well established that women's active participation is essential to the sustainable development of a nation, I fel t that the potential of such a programme was enormous.

While I had v iewed the study of development as a departure from my background i n nursing, i t was, perhaps, my n ursing background that lead m e t o focus on Las Dignas' mental health programme. I had worked previously as a mental health nurse and I felt that my years of sitting next to patients' beds listening to the stories of their l i ves, would place me i n good stead for u ndertaking a research proj ect that required empathy, adaptation and the abil i ty to rel ate to women from a different culture to my own.

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V

Thus, after keeping i n contact with O felia and gaining permi ssion from Las Dignas to conduct research in El Salvador, I enrolled in a PhD programme in development studies.

My j ourney of d iscovery had begun .

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Acknowledgments

The completion of this thesis has been made possible through the support and assistance of many people.

VI

In particular I would like to thank my supervisors, John Overton, Regina Scheyvens and Robert Gregory for their constant enthusiasm and careful guidance;

the Ryoichi Sasakawa Scholarships Commillee for providing me with the generous .fimding needed to conduct my research;

Ananda Millard, O.felia Lopez, Christina lhiu?ez and a!! the staff of Las Dignasfor 1relcoming and caringfOJ· me during my time in El Salvador;

A lex Quintanilla, Natalia Ramirez and Alicia Garciafor their patience, friendship and assistance with Spanish language, transcription and translation;

the members of the Wednesday and Berlin groupsfor teaching me about their lives;

my colleagues in CORSO forfacilitating my interest in the work of Las Dignas;

Marie Leslie . .loan Morre/1 and Anne Kellyfor their help )llith proofreading;

and my friends, near andfar, whose interest and supportfOI· my research has been unfailing.

I would also like to thanks my parents, Marie and Arnold, and my brothers, Paul, Dcn·ron, A ndreH' and Michael 1rhose beliefin me has enabled me to become the most

qualified Leslie!.

Lastly I would like to thank my partner, John Morrell for being prepared to fend off cockroaches for me in El Salvador and.for your constant love and support throughout

the thesis writing process.

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VII

List of Figures and Tables

Figure 1 : Context Map of El Salvador __________________ 5

Figure 2: The Women's Movement During the Return to Competitive Electoral Politics (Peruvian, Chilean and Argentinian Examples). --- 76 Figure 3: An Approach to 1-fea/ing.for Women in Post-Conflict Latin America __ 1 06 Figure -!: Organisational Chart ofLas Dignas ______________ 253

Table 1: lane Stein's FrameH·ork of individual Le1·el Empowerment --- 36 Table 2.· Five Member Orwmisations of the FMLN _ ___ _ _ _____ _ 1 6 1 Table 3 : The Chapultepec A ccord ^_________________ _ 1 79

'

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List of Photographs

Photo 1: El Salvador has a relatively ethnically homogenous population 6 Photo: 2: San Vincente volcano: one of El Salvador 's numerous volcanic peaks 6

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Photo _3: Poor housing in rural El Salvador ₁₃₈

Photo _-1: Typical poor housing in the capital, San Salvador ₁₃₈ Photo 5: Defending wealth and privilege: security guard in upper-class suburb

San Salvador ₁₃₉

Photo 6: Signs of War: remnants r4 FMLN bombing campaign in San Salvador 139 Photo 7: They have not died, they are �rith us, ll'ith you, and with all ofhumanity:

inscription on memorial plaque at El Mo:::ote ₁₆₉

Photo 8: Monument to the dead at El Mozote 169

Photo 9: ''Please lem•e your gun in the entrance": sign outside supermarket,

San Salvador 182

Photo 10: Mara graf]itti on city market 182

Photo 11: Activities on the International Day Against Violence Against Women 2-10 Photo 12: "We have the right to decide in the counfly, in the community, in the

home, in the bed and about our bodies: Las Dignas banner at the International

Day Against Violence Against Women _2-10

Photo 13: "For your health and traquillity buy.from the market ": Las Dignas

local development programme, Suchitoto 251

Photo 1-1: Training in non-traditional occupations: Las Dignas cmpent1y

workshops, San Salvador 251

Photo 15: Central Office of Las Dignas, San Salvador 251

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ACISAM AMES AMIS

AMPRONAC

ANESAL ANI S ARENA CEF CEMUJER

CIA COM

COMADRES

CON AM U S CONAVIGUA COPAZ DAWN ERP FAES FOR FMLN FPL FUN DE FUN DO IMU

MAM MSM ON USAL OR DEN ORMUSA PPL RN UNESCO

UNHCR UN ICEF U RP US A I D

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List of Acronyms

Association of Training and Research for Mental Health Association of Salvadoran Women

Association of I ndigenous Salvadoran Women Assoc iation o f N icaraguan Women Confronting the Nations Problems

Salvadoran National Security Agency

National Association of Indigenous Salvadorans National i st Republ ican Alliance

Centre for Feminist Studies

orma V irginia Guirola Herrera Centre for Women ' s Studies

Central I ntel l igence Agency

Coordination of Women's Organisations

Committee of Mothers and Relatives of Pol itical

Prisoners, Disappeared and Assassinated of El Sal vador National Coordinating Committee of Salvadoran Women National Coordi nator of Widows o f Guatemala

National Peace Commi ssion

Development Alternati ves With Women for a New Era Revol utionary Army of the People

Salvadoran Armed Forces Democratic Revol uti onary Front

Farabundo Marti National Liberati on Front Popular Forces of L iberation

National Development Foundation

Fund for the Protection of War Wounded and D isabled Institute for Research, Training and Devel opment of Women

Melinda Anaya Montes Women's Movement Salvadoran Women' s Movement

United Nations Observer M i ssion in El Salvador ational Democratic Organi sation

Organi sation of Salvadoran Women Local Popular Power

National Resistance

United Nations Education Science and Culture Organisation

United Nations H igh Commissioner for Refugees United Nations Children's Fund

United to Reconstruct Plan

United States Aid for I nternational Development