conference programme

CONFERENCE PROGRAMME
In te rd i s c i p l i n a r y p e r spect i ves on Children
Bo rn o f Wa r – f r om Wo r l d War II to current
c o n f l i c t s et t i n g s
J u n e 4 –5, 2015
C o n fe r ence Ce nt er of
Sc h lo s s He r r e nha us e n, Ha nnover
Welcome
The seventieth anniversary of the end of the Second World War has triggered
a myriad of diverse activities, a wide range of commemorative events, public,
media and academic engagement alike. We welcome you to our conference,
which will take the Second World War and one of its lesser explored
consequences as a starting point for exchange about children fathered by
foreign soldiers and born to local mothers in a wide range of conflict- and
post-conflict situations in the 20th and 21st century.
The meeting is timely, not just because of the above mentioned anniversary.
It is opportune because the Children Born of World War II and the post-war
occupations are at a stage in their lives when many feel the need and have
the time and inclination to explore their own past. This has led – over the last
few years – to exciting research collaborations which are now bearing fruit.
Some of the results of these projects will be presented here. The symposium
is devoted to academic study and exchange and with its combination of
interdisciplinary research and public engagement it is testament to a spirit
of genuine collaboration between the Children Born of World War II and the
post-war occupations on the one hand and academics who have tried to shed
light on their life experiences on the other hand. As such, it is fitting to combine
in this workshop the results of inter- and multi-disciplinary academic study
with the reflections of Children Born of War themselves who will present those
thoughts in Thursday evening’s public book reading and roundtable discussion.
We are very grateful to the Volkswagen Foundation for supporting this
symposium and the pre-conference early career workshop financially and thus
for allowing us to share our research in this international meeting.
At the time of writing these greetings, it is reported in the news that France
is investigating allegations of sexual misconduct of its peacekeepers in the
Central African Republic, clearly alerting us to the fact that intimate relations
between foreign soldiers and local women – consensual or coercive – are not
a phenomenon of the past, but of the present and in all likelihood of the future.
This demonstrates just how important engagement with this topic is.
We hope that the chosen themes will be of cross-disciplinary interest and we
look forward to a lively academic exchange.
Heide Glaesmer, Sabine Lee & Philipp Kuwert
1
IMPRINT
Organization:
PD Dr. Heide Glaesmer, University of Leipzig (Germany)
PD Dr. Sabine Lee, University of Birmingham, Department of History (UK)
PD Dr. Philipp Kuwert, University of Greifswald (Germany)
Main Sponsor:
This conference is funded by the Volkswagen Foundation.
The brochure is not intended for commercial sale. Reprint, reproduction,
duplication or distribution of any kind (including parts or pictures), requires the
written permission of the publisher.
Programme Overview
Morning
Afternoon
Thursday
June 4
Friday
June 5
Pre-Conference
Workshop
Connecting Young
Scientists with Senior
Researchers
Symposium 2:
Experiences of Stigma
and Discrimination in
Children Born of War
Welcome Note
Symposium 4:
Human Rights and
Children Born of War
Keynote Lectures
Evening
Symposium 3:
Identity Issues in
Children Born of War
Symposium 1:
Children Born of
World War II in
Europe – Historical
Perspectives
Symposium 5:
Contemporary
Challenges of
Children Born of War
from a Psychosocial
Perspective
Public Reading
and Roundtable
Discussion
(German)
Outcomes and
Open Questions
3
Detailed Programme
Thursday, 4th of June 2015
09:30 – 12:00 and 13:00 – 14:00 Pre-Conference Workshop
Connecting Young Scientists with Senior Researchers
Chairs: Prof. Dr. Sabine Lee (University of Birmingham,
Department of History, UK),
PD Dr. Heide Glaesmer (University of Leipzig, Germany),
PD Dr. Philipp Kuwert (University of Greifswald, Germany),
Prof. Dr. Robert McKelvey (Oregon Health and Science University,
USA)
Gwendoline Cicottini (University of Aix-Marseille, France): Child of
foreigner: Franco-german children of war, seventy years after
Marie Kaiser (University of Leipzig, Germany) and Martin
Miertsch (University Medicine Greifswald, Germany):
Methodological specifics of participative research on Children
Born of War in the European historical context: An investigation
and comparison of German, Austrian and Norwegian Children
Born of World War II
Maria Böttche (Freie Universität Berlin, Germany): Integrative
Testimonial Therapy: Intervenion and Predictors of Outcome
Daniele Conrad (University of Ulm, Germany): Epigenetic
modifications in the context of the treatment of Narrative Exposure
Therapy in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder – A study with survivors
of the rebel war in Northern Uganda
Yuri Nesterko (University of Leipzig, Germany): Mental health in
refugee populations
Allen Kiconco (University of Birmingham, UK): Children Born in
Captivity: Growing Up with Stigma in Northern Uganda
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Eunice Apio (University of Birmingham, UK): Joseph Kony’s Politics
of Affiliating CBOW in the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA): 1998–
2006
Wala’ Maaitah (Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany):
Psychological Responses of Palestinian Adult Students to Traumatic
Exposure to Political Violence
Emina Hadziosmanovic (University of Portsmouth, UK): Reflections
on traumatic experiences of children born and growing up in wartime Bosnia & Herzegovina
12:00 – 13:00 Lunch Break
14:30 – 14:45 Welcome Note
14:45 – 16:15 Keynote Lectures
Vincent Oling (Chairman of Facilitation for Peace and
Development, FAPAD, Uganda): Children Born of War –
Challenges of Belonging and Legitimacy
PD Dr. Heide Glaesmer (University of Leipzig, Germany):
Growing up as a Child Born of War from a psychosocial
perspective
16:15 – 16:45 Coffee Break
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Detailed Programme
16:45 – 18:00 Symposium 1:
Children Born of World War II in Europe – Historical Perspectives
Chair/Discussant: Prof. Dr. Sabine Lee, University of Birmingham,
Department of History (UK)
Prof. Dr. Maren Röger (University of Augsburg, Germany):
Ongoing Silence: Children Born of World War II and East
European Societies
PD Dr. Barbara Stelzl-Marx (Ludwig-Boltzmann-Institut für
Kriegsfolgenforschung, Graz, Austria): My Father – the (former)
Enemy. Soviet Children of Occupation in Austria
Prof. Dr. Silke Satjukow (Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg,
Germany): Children of Occupation in Germany after 1945
Barbara Stelzl-Marx / Silke Satjukow: Book presentation
„Besatzungskinder. Die Nachkommen alliierter Soldaten in
Österreich und Deutschland” (Children born of occupation. The
offspring of allied soldiers in Austria and Germany)
18:00 – 19:00 Dinner
19:00 – 21:00 Public Reading and Roundtable Discussion
(German)
Chair: PD Dr. Philipp Kuwert, University of Greifswald (Germany)
PD Dr. Philipp Kuwert: Wissenschaftlicher Impulsvortrag –
Kinder des Krieges – eine gefährdete Personengruppe in Kriegsund Nachkriegsländern (Scientific introduction – Children Born of
War – a vulnerable group in conflict and past conflict regions)
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Gisela Heidenreich, Seefeld-Hechendorf (Deutschland):
Auf der Suche nach der eigenen Identität – Psychische Folgen der
„Lebensborn”-Ideologie (In search of one‘s identity – mental health
outcomes of „Lebensborn” ideology)
Ute Baur-Timmerbrink, Berlin (Deutschland): Buchlesung
„Besatzungskinder – Die Töchter und Söhne alliierter Soldaten
in Deutschland“ (Reading of her book „Children born of
occupation – the daughters and sons of the allied soldiers after
WW II in Germany“)
Roundtable: Winfried Behlau, Heide Glaesmer,
Gisela Heidenreich, Michael Martin, Ingvill Mochmann,
Birgrit Michler, Ute Baur-Timmerbrink
21:00 Drinks Reception
Friday, 5th of June 2015
9:00 – 10:30 Symposium 2:
Experiences of Stigma and Discrimination in Children Born of War
Chair/Discussant: Prof. Dr. Ingvill Mochmann, Leibniz Institute for
the Social Sciences, Cologne (Germany)
Jennifer Scott (Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, USA):
The impacts of stigma and acceptance on mental health outcomes
and parenting attitudes among women raising children from
sexual violence-related pregnancies in Eastern Democratic
Republic of Congo
Marie Kaiser (University of Leipzig, Germany): Experiences
of Public Stigma and Self-Stigma in German and Austrian
Occupation Children
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Detailed Programme
Dr. Martin Miertsch (University of Greifswald, Germany): Children
Born of War: Stigma, self-stigma and discrimination of children
fathered by German soldiers in Norway during WW II
10:30 – 11:00 Coffee Break
11:00 – 12:15 Symposium 3:
Identity Issues in Children Born of War
Chair/Discussant: PD Dr. Heide Glaesmer, University of Leipzig
(Germany)
PD Dr. Philipp Kuwert (University of Greifswald, Germany):
Subjective Identity aspects in former German Children Born of
World War II
Prof. Dr. Dorett Funcke (University of Hagen, Germany):
Parentage, kinship, identity. Empirical results from the field of
sociology of the family
12:15 – 13:00 Lunch Break
13:00 – 14:30 Symposium 4:
Human Rights and Children Born of War
Chair/Discussant: PD Dr. Barbara Stelzl-Marx, Ludwig-BoltzmannInstitut für Kriegsfolgenforschung, Graz (Austria)
Prof. Jean Allain and Eithne Dowds (School of Law, Queen’s
University, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK): The Law and Children
Born of War: Rape, Slavery and Consent across Enemy Lines
Dr. Benedetta Rossi (School of History and Cultures, University
of Birmingham, UK): Children Born of War and the Wartime
Enslavement of Women in Africa: Linking the Historical and the
Contemporary
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Dr. Susan Bartels (Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, Boston, USA;
Queen‘s University, Kingston, Canada): A Qualitative Assessment
of Parenting Experiences Among Women With Sexual ViolenceRelated Pregnancies in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo
14:30 – 15:00 Coffee Break
15:00 – 16:30 Symposium 5:
Contemporary Challenges of Children Born of War from a
Psychosocial Perspective
Chair/Discussant: PD Dr. Philipp Kuwert, University of Greifswald
(Germany)
Dr. Elisa van Ee (Institute of Psychotrauma/Foundation Center 45,
Diemen, The Netherlands): Traumatized mothers and mother-childinteraction
Dr. Amra Delic (School of Medicine, University of Tuzla, Bosnia
and Herzegovina): War Rape Context, Stigma and Silence related
to War Rape Victims and Children Born of War in Bosnia and
Herzegovina: Experiences and Reflections 1992–2015
Jocelyn Kelly (Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, Boston, USA; John
Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA): Children born from conflict:
A synthesis of data from four conflicts in the Great Lakes Region
16:30 – max. 18:00 Outcomes and Open Questions
Prof. Dr. Sabine Lee, University of Birmingham, Department of
History (UK)
18:00 – 19:00 Light Dinner
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Abstracts: Pre-Conference Workshop
Topic 1: Children Born of World War II
Child of foreigner: Franco-german children of war, seventy years after
Author: Gwendoline Cicottini (Masters student, History, University of AixMarseille, France)
The work of Fabrice Virgili explored the topic of children, born from what we
called a ‘collaboration horizontale‘. My project focuses on the children born
in Germany during World War II, specifically those children that came from
German mothers and French fathers.
Spending a year in Berlin during 2013–14 has enabled me to view sources
from the WASt. Through looking at paternity research archives I have been
able to reconstruct the lives of some of these children.
The work will continue this year with an oral survey, conducted with the (now
adult) children.
At the heart of my research lies the association between Franco-German
children of way as this plays a central role in their quest for a father.
Associations with meeting and social places will also be explored. These
spaces constitute a place of integration for these children, all of whom have
been brought together by one story. This creates a feeling of belonging within
the group.
One of the difficulties in the research was to define the frontieres that defined
‘children of war’. Therefore, for practical reasons we consider ‘children of war’
as those who were born during the war itself, but also those who were born
after the war, during the Allied Occupation of Germany. If the background
of these two periods is completely different, the experience lived by these
children is similar. They are born from a father who was a traditional enemy as
well as an occupier after 1945. This father is also a foreigner and a stranger.
How have these children been living as the child of a multi-national couple,
during the war but also during the occupation of Germany? What has their
birth told us about a war, presented as a tragedy? What did it mean for them
to have had an absent French father, who they mostly didn’t know?
10
Methodological specifics of participative research on Children Born
of War in the European historical context: An investigation and
comparison of German, Austrian and Norwegian Children Born of
World War II
Author: Marie Kaiser (PhD student, Department of Medical Psychology and
Medical Sociology, University of Leipzig, Germany) and Martin Miertsch (Postdoc, Department of Psychiatry, University Medicine Greifswald, Germany)
Background: Children born as a consequence of sexual relationships of a
foreign soldier and a local woman in (post) World War II Europe can be defined
as a hidden population: Not much is known about them, their population size
can only be estimated and they are difficult to reach for researchers. Their
specific experiences cannot be depicted by means of standardized instruments.
For German and Austrian occupation children there is some historical research
on experiences while growing up. For Norwegian and Danish ‘Wehrmachtchildren‘ there are historical as well as social studies reporting about longterm consequences on mental and physical well-being as a result of specific
experiences of this population. Nevertheless, psychosocial studies on longterm consequences of growing up as occupation child/‘Wehrmacht-child‘
have been missing so far.
Methods: In 2012 the initial thought was to investigate children who were
born of rape by Soviet soldiers on their rampage for Berlin at the end of World
War II. Thereof, the view broadened to Children Born of War in general
and paved way for following projects in Germany, Austria and Norway.
Due to hidden population characteristics of the target groups a participative
approach was chosen: By including members of the target group as well as
scientific experts in the research process, maximum proximity to the target
group can be achieved. Thus a questionnaire was developed including open
and closed questions, as well as standardized instruments, overall tailored to
fit the target group assessing their specific living conditions and experiences
in childhood and adolescence, as well as the current mental distress status.
Perspective: Specifics about methodological approach and piloting of the
initial instrument as well as specifics of each project country’s target population
will be introduced and discussed.
11
Abstracts: Pre-Conference Workshop
Topic 2: Therapeutic Intervention
Integrative Testimonial Therapy: Intervenion and Predictors of
Outcome
Author: Maria Böttche (PhD student, Berlin Center for Torture Victims,
Freie Universität Berlin, Germany)
Background: In the last decades, research started to focus on the effects of
war-associated early-lifetime traumatization in late life. Results examined that
the cohort of older adults with war-childhood show moderate PTSD prevalence
rates. However, evidence for effective treatments for older adults with PTSD,
particularly early-lifetime war trauma survivors, is scarce.
Methods: Thirty former children of World War II aged 65 to 85 years (mean,
71.73 years; SD, 4.8; n = 17 women) with PTSD symptoms participated
in an open trail of a cognitive-behavioral PTSD writing therapy. Intent-to-treat
analyses examined pre- to posttreatment as well as 3-month follow up scores. In
addition, hierarchical regression was used to examine predictors of outcome.
Results: Results revealed a significant decrease in PTSD severity scores
(Cohen’s d = 0.43) and significant improvements on secondary clinical
outcomes of quality of life (Cohen’s d = 0.48), self-efficacy (Cohen’s d = 0.38),
and posttraumatic growth (Cohen’s d = 0.33) from pre- to posttreatment. All
improvements were maintained at a 3-month follow up. Participants reported
high working alliance (M = 6.09, SD = .87, range 1-7).
Conclusion: Concerning outcome predictors, results revealed that pretreatment scores on measures of internal locus of control and posttraumatic
growth predicted PTSD symptom severity at post-treatment, even after
controlling for initial PTSD. At a 6-month follow-up, internal locus of control
continued to predict PTSD symptom severity.
The findings provide promising insights into evidence-based age-specific
treatment for PTSD regarding potential outcome predictors and potential
effective treatment components. With regard to demographic change and
taking into account the fact that early-lifetime war-associated traumatization
has a disabling impact, it is a matter of urgency that clinical routine should
effectively reach and address the needs of older adults.
12
Epigenetic modifications in the context of the treatment of Narrative
Exposure Therapy in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder – A study with
survivors of the rebel war in Northern Uganda
Author: Daniele Conrad (PhD student, Division of Clinical and Biological
Psychology, University of Ulm, Germany)
Genetic factors contribute significantly to the risk of developing a Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) after exposure to traumatic events. Numerous
candidate gene association studies and genome-wide association studies
(GWAS) have been performed, to identify causal genetic variants underlying
the development of PTSD. According to previous findings, PTSD appears to
be a complex disorder that might be best explained through multi-genetic risk
markers located on many gene pathways with relatively small effect sizes.
Moreover, prior research indicated epigenetic modifications (biological
mechanism influencing gene regulation and expression) to be risk factors
for PTSD development and potential predictors and correlates of treatment
success. Thus, genetic pathways involved in PTSD development could be
subject to epigenetic modifications.
This project aims to systematically investigate genetic pathways influencing
PTSD development in a large sample of survivors of the rebel war in Northern
Uganda and replicate potential findings in an independent sample of survivors
of the Rwandan genocide. Furthermore, it will be investigated, if epigenetic
methylation in these pathways predicts treatment success with Narrative
Exposure Therapy and might change in the course or aftermath of therapeutic
interventions.
By shedding light on neurobiological pathways underlying PTSD and its
treatment, this PhD project aims to contribute to the development of new shortterm and cost-effective therapy approaches, tailored to the patients’ genetic
and epigenetic characteristics.
13
Abstracts: Pre-Conference Workshop
Topic 3: Recent and Current Conflict Settings
Mental health in refugee populations
Author: Yuri Nesterko (PhD student, Department of Medical Psychology and
Medical Sociology, University of Leipzig, Germany)
Due to increased military escalations in conflict regions like Syria or
Ukraine, the number of asylum seekers in high income countries is constantly
increasing. People who leave their home country because of armed conflicts,
organized violence and persecution, who were exposed to life-threatening,
traumatic events while fleeing and who are often living under difficult and
uncertain conditions in the host country are at high risk to develop mental
disorders. As a consequence of traumatic experiences before, during and
after the fleeing mental health disorders, such as PTSD, anxiety, depression,
somatoform disorders as well as substance use disorders and suicidality are
likely to arise. In different host countries, the prevalence of mental disorders
in refugee populations is varying and often hard to access. In Germany,
currently with the highest number of refugees worldwide, no reliable data is
available. However, the number of studies reporting insufficient psychosocial
and psychotherapeutic care of asylum seekers is growing. Therefore, aim of
the project is to detect the actual psychotherapeutic needs of refugees living
in Saxony in addition to population based prevalence assessment of the
major mental disorders, which are associated with traumatic experiences. The
symptoms of PTSD, anxiety, depression and somatoform disorders in newly
arrived adult refugees should be measured with the help of interpreters in a
questionnaire-based survey.
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Children Born in Captivity: Growing Up with Stigma in Northern
Uganda
Author: Allen Kiconco (PhD student, Department of African Studies and
Anthropology/School of History & Cultures, University of Birmingham, UK)
The United Nations’ 2006 Integrated Disarmament, Demobilisation and
Reintegration (DDR) Standards argue that (re)-integration is primarily taking
place in the community at the local level. The (re)-integration literature also
suggests that the community particularly the immediate settings are the
important reference point for formerly abducted individuals and Children Born
in Captivity (CBIC). It is argued that a cordial relationship with people in the
surrounding settings is a necessary element of a successful (re)-integration into
civil life. However, because of stigmatisation, a healthy relationship with their
community members is something many of CBIC are unable to achieve. Given
the frequent focus on abducted girls’ lives in captivity, relatively few studies
have attempted to explore how their military background/experience affects
their children’s integration. This paper is based on the qualitative research
conducted (2012–2013) on the formerly abducted girls in Northern Uganda.
A total of 57 young women were interviewed for this research. Early in the
research process, it became obvious that what these former girl soldiers have
in common is the stigma as a consequence of their abduction by the Lord’s
Resistance Army (LRA) and life in captivity. The findings also reveal that stigma
promotion extends to their CBIC as well. From the perspective of their mothers,
this presentation will discuss stigmatisation as one of the central theme in the
lives of CBIC: the source of their stigma and how the stigmatized (children) are
sympathised in the community.
15
Abstracts: Pre-Conference Workshop
Joseph Kony’s Politics of Affiliating CBOW in the Lord’s Resistance
Army (LRA): 1998–2006
Author: Eunice Apio (PhD student, Department of African Studies and
Anthropology/School of History & Cultures, University of Birmingham, UK)
In an on-going study in Northern Uganda, ex-combatants revealed that the
birth of thousands of CBOW in the LRA was a divine revelation. They claimed
that through Joseph Kony, a spirit called Silindi had locked their wombs before
1999, so that the rate of births in the LRA was low. Study participants said that
before Kony or Silindi’s announcement, children who were born and living
in the LRA camps were possibly not more than 200. Kony himself had at
least 50 children. But after Kony’s announcement, study participants said that
most of the women became pregnant with an average monthly birth rate of
80 babies.
This study explores how LRA’s Joseph Kony used fear and mysticism to control
his followers’ sexuality and reproductive abilities and laid claims on offspring
of his recruits. It seeks to understand the implications that such a ‘hijack of
wombs‘ by Joseph Kony had on CBOW in their maternal communities in
Northern Uganda.
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Psychological Responses of Palestinian Adult Students to Traumatic
Exposure to Political Violence
Author: Wala’ Maaitah (PhD student, Department of Social Psychology,
Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany), Thomas Kessler, Nicole Harth
Psychological responses to the chronic political violence have become a
hurdle to the academic performance of Palestinian adult students living in the
Palestinian-occupied territories, in addition to their attitudes towards peace and
war. Palestinian and Israeli researchers in the field of psychological trauma
share a high consensus on the growing numbers of traumatized individuals
on both sides. Studies conducted in the West Bank estimated that over half
of the Palestinian student population (1.4 million) was faced with at least
one war-related traumatic exposure (Khamis, 2005). In this longitudinal quasi
experimental study, we investigate the correlation between the frequency of
Palestinian adult students’ exposure to political violence, perceived threat,
levels of emotion regulation, academic performance, and students’ attitudes
towards peace and war.
The 300 adult university student sample represents a student body from high
and low risk areas in the West Bank and Gaza. We expect that students
showing higher emotion regulation capabilities are more likely to demonstrate
peaceful behavioral intentions and better academic performance. Three
conditions that are expected to mediate this stressful person-environment
relationship and guide individuals’ academic performance and political
behavioral intentions are coping self-efficacy, cognitive reappraisal, and
degree of social identification with in-group.
A major goal of the study is to examine efficiency/depletion of emotion
regulatory strategies and perceived coping self-efficacy in a context of
protracted conflict. In addition, it seeks to observe whether or not shared
experiences of conflict exposure lead to what might be called collective
sense of coping self-efficacy and symmetric patterns of emotion regulatory
strategies. Finally, we aim to inquire whether or not different levels of academic
performance are predictive of certain political orientations.
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Abstracts: Pre-Conference Workshop
Reflections on traumatic experiences of children born and growing up
in war-time Bosnia & Herzegovina
Author: Emina Hadziosmanovic (Post-doc, School of Health Sciences and
Social Work, Faculty of Science, University of Portsmouth, UK)
This paper aims to explore the traumatic experiences of individuals who were
children at the time of war in Bosnia 1992–1995. A qualitative assessment
of the psychosocial impact of war was carried out, examining the views of
individuals who lived through the war as children and subsequently became
displaced to the UK, or remained within their pre-war homes in Bosnia and
Herzegovina. Due to the limited understanding and participation of children
in the war, looking at the ways in which children have been affected by the
war in a social, political, and environmental context provides an insight into
the longer-term effects of war and into possible intergenerational differences.
This research aims to address the impact these early life experiences have had
upon them and how they have subsequently made sense of these experiences
in later life.
Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 20 former children of war
living in either the UK (n = 10) or Bosnia (n = 10) today. Snowball sampling
was used to recruit participants. Thematic analysis was conducted to generate
themes using the six phase approach recommended by Braun and Clarke
(2006) as the most efficient and rigorous way of conducting thematic analysis.
The main themes that emerged were: the effects of war (short and long-term),
understanding the reasons for war, the importance and influence of religion,
identity and post-traumatic growth and inter-group relations and contact with
Serbs (trusting the Serbs, forgiveness, forgetting). Differences in experiences
that could be attributable to living in either the UK or Bosnia were not seen in
these participants. The social, psychological, and political implications of this
research are discussed in the paper.
18
Abstracts: Keynote Lectures
Children Born of War – Challenges of Belonging and Legitimacy
Author: Vincent Oling
Chairman of Facilitation for Peace and Development (FAPAD), Uganda
The self-styled spirit-led Lord’s Resistance Army Commander, Joseph Kony,
in several sermons to his commanders, and especially to control Altar
Brigade which he personally led, bluntly stated that the children born in the
bush were intended to be the replacement for to-be wiped out community
population the LRA was subjecting to bloody torture and destruction. With
this proudly pronounced concept of the bush king, CBOW was being labeled
as a native of a distinct subculture, with irresistible growth of prejudices in
destined condemned victims’ minds. Defining ‘Child Born of War‘ demands
understanding the circumstances, the environment, and actions that provide
the characteristics attributed, and qualifying a child to be termed born of war.
For purposes of precision and representative case in terms of historical
perspective, stigma, identity, and childhood adversity considerations, I
have chosen to focus on the CBOW in Uganda’s Northern Uganda LRA
war context. The discussion gives necessary space to culture – social values
and norms, by which issues of stigma, identity, and childhood adversities
may be assessed, and established. The right to belonging to a community
is handled within the context of prevailing post conflict economic, social,
political, and cultural challenges linked to war situation multiplier effects. A
look at legitimacy from the background of institutional strength, its principles,
values and norms against conducive environment, will make understanding
CBOW easier. We have to look at the dehumanizing war activities and
further to impact – multiplier effects on morals, attitude, and changing norms
and values corresponding with demanding survival and post conflict recovery
needs.
Whereas it is not ignorance of rights, of what belongs to whom, over eighty
percent of court cases, criminal and civil in Northern Uganda, are about land
wrangles, about land poverty rights. Land ownership, access to, and land
utilization go with legitimacy. Where already members of the family, nuclear
and extended, who have, together with neighbors, all along been together
in the rough and tough life with war, are at each other’s throat for legitimacy
19
Abstracts: Keynote Lectures
over pieces of land, the additional demand with the coming one of the CBOW
is worth making an issue of both academic and practical purposes.
Where the government is tepid on issues of rights, and dragging its feet on
transitional justice frameworks, when every civilized society would, and should
make such a policy after war, a priority, the right to belong, to legitimacy,
where victim communities are still nursing war wounds, should be the concern
of all with well-meaning words for CBOW represented at the symposium, and
internationally.
Growing up as a Child Born of War from a psychosocial perspective
Author: Heide Glaesmer
University of Leipzig, Germany
Whenever there have been wars and armed conflicts with lengthy periods
of foreign soldiers in close proximity to local civilian populations, there has
been contact between troops and civilians, from the superficial to the intimate;
and whenever there have been these contacts, children have been born,
fathered by foreign (enemy) soldiers and local women. Few human rights and
children’s rights topics have been met with a similarly extensive silence as the
fate of Children Born of War (CBOW). Their existence, in their hundreds of
thousands, is a widely ignored reality – to the detriment of the individuals and
the local societies within which they grow up. Among the children are those
conceived in conflict-related sexual violence, but also in intimate relations of
more or less consensual nature. Research has shown that Children Born of
War have often been subjected to discrimination and have often experienced
difficult developmental or even traumatising experiences. A double stigma of
being a ‘child of the enemy’ and being born out of wedlock adversely affected
their childhoods, and the questions over the identity of their fathers have often
affected their identity formation. The talk gives an insight into the psychological
perspectives on Children Born of War and conceptualizes a framework to
investigate and understand the specific experiences and problems of CBOW
in World War II and in recent conflict and post-conflict regions. An insight in
the findings of studies in Children Born of WWII will be given.
20
Abstracts: Symposia
Symposium 1: Children Born of World War II in
Europe – Historical Perspectives
Ongoing Silence: Children Born of World War II and East European
Societies
Author: Maren Röger
University of Augsburg, Germany
During World War II German soldiers caused not only the death of millions of
people in Europe and around the World, but they also procreated new life.
Up to one million children were assumedly born after sexual contacts between
German men and local women. Though public debate and research was and
is still vivid, it focussed mainly Scandinavian and Western European countries.
The Children Born of War in Central and Eastern European countries remained
for a long time a blind spot. Only recently, research on sexual contact – forced
and consensual – of German men with the locals and its consequences, the
children, started (Mühlhäuser 2010 on Soviet Union, Röger 2015 on Poland).
Research on Soviet men and their sexual contacts in the the territories of Central
and Eastern Europe is still rare. Pető (2003) was a pioneer on Hungary, but
without integrating the offspring. Only recently, this seems to change and
a Polish journalist started to interview children who were born out of rape
(Majewska-Howis 2011).
But still, the silence in the respective societies is ongoing. The presentation
will resume the reasons for public silence under communist rule, and discuss
hypothesis for the prevailing silence after the political changes of 1989. In
a second step it will resume the state of the art and point at further research
tasks.
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Abstracts: Symposia
My Father – the (former) Enemy. Soviet Children of Occupation in
Austria
Author: Barbara Stelzl-Marx
Ludwig-Boltzmann-Institut für Kriegsfolgenforschung, Graz, Austria
Soviet children of occupation were born between late 1945 and mid-1956 in
Austria; some following voluntary sexual relations between local women and
Red Army soldiers, others as a result of rape. They were considered by many
to be ‘children of the enemy‘, and encountered various forms of discrimination
and stigmatisation.
The children involved were largely a ‘fatherless‘ group. By the time of their
birth even fathers who wanted to stay in touch had generally been either sent
home or transferred to another barracks in line with the Kremlin’s view that
intimate relations between Soviet soldiers and Austrians were politically and
ideologically reprehensible. Even after the signing of the Austrian State Treaty
and the end of the occupation in 1955, the political situation largely ruled out
further contact. This situation was exacerbated by the onset of the Cold War.
Frequently children of occupation grew up with grandparents or other relatives,
with foster parents or in institutions. This could happen if their single mother
went out to work, or if a new stepfather refused to take them on. Some even
tell of coming up against hatred. Neither the individual Red Army soldiers nor
the Soviet government could be forced to pay alimony.
In many cases, the children of occupation were hemmed in by a wall of
silence that in some cases persists to this day. This has led to widespread
questions about personal identity and searches for their ‘roots‘. Against this
background, the paper analyses the impact of the specific historical, political
and social background on the lives of Soviet occupation children.
22
Children of Occupation in Germany after 1945
Author: Silke Satjukow
Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Germany
In spring 1945 Allied troops marched into Germany, nine months later the first
so called ‘occupation children‘ were born. Hundreds of thousands of these
children have been given birth in the first postwar decade, in most cases their
fathers were allied soldiers and their mothers young Germans. Only in rare
cases the men official acknowledged their paternity und responsibility.
During their whole lives these children had to live with a double stigma: They
were children of illegitimacy and of violation or even of a relationship with
the abhorred enemy. They were excluded by their social environment, they
were derided and maltreated psychical and physical – they were regarded as
‘bastards‘, ‘Russenbälger‘, ‘Amikinder‘ or even as ‘Negerbrut‘.
While the British, American and Russian neither were interested in the mothers
nor in their offspring, the French organised secret baby transports to Paris
and North Africa. There the children received new identities and were free to
adoptions – the fate of the these ‘French children‘ remain undetected to date.
The lecture retraces the story of these children that was reticent for a long
time. It becomes apparent that the ‘arrival‘ of the ‘occupation children‘ in both
German postwar societies brought not just problems and risks but also chances.
They had not just been the bullied and discriminated victims. Just because of
their existence they were a permanent challenge for the environment. They
advanced to some kind of media for European and transatlantic negotiation
and approximation processes. And they became essential intermediary of a
new, cosmopolitan and liberal value field for the German who were affected
by the National Socialist race ideology.
23
Public Reading and Roundtable Discussion
Öffentliche Abendveranstaltung –
Buchlesung und Podiumsdiskussion
Kinder des Krieges – eine gefährdete Personengruppe in Kriegs- und
Nachkriegsländern
Autor: Philipp Kuwert (Universität Greifswald, Deutschland),
Marie Kaiser, Heide Glaesmer
Der kurze Impulsvortrag stellt als Auftakt für die folgende Podiumsdiskussion ein
psychosoziales Modell vor, was die spezifischen Sozialisationsbedingungen
von Besatzungskindern zu konzeptionalisieren versucht. Dabei wird insbesondere dem Dreieck aus Stigmatisierung, Vatersuche und ungünstigen Umgebungsbedingungen in Post-Konflikt-Gesellschaften Rechnung getragen.
Auf der Suche nach der eigenen Identität – Psychische Folgen der
„Lebensborn”-Ideologie
Autor: Gisela Heidenreich, Sonderpädagogin, Paar-und Familientherapeutin,
Seefeld-Hechendorf (Deutschland)
Die norwegischen „Lebensbornkinder“ sind Teil des Forschungsprojektes
„Children Born of War“ – die deutschen gehören auf den ersten Blick nicht zu
der Gruppe, denen sich dieses Symposium widmet.
Die ersten „Lebensbornkinder“ wurden in Deutschland bereits seit 1936 nach der
Gründung des rassenpolitisch orientierten SS-Vereins „Lebensborn e.V.“ geboren.
Nach Kriegsbeginn 1939 folgten viele SS-Angehörige der Aufforderung
Himmlers, auch außerhalb der Ehe Nachkommen zu zeugen, waren mehr
und mehr unverheiratete Frauen „guten Blutes“ bereit, „Kinder für den Führer“
zu gebären. Geheimhaltung der Geburten, Betreuung und Entbindung in
den medizinisch und personell bestens ausgestatteten Heimen des Vereins
erleichterten die Entscheidung.
Ab 1942 beteiligte sich der „Lebensborn“ am „Eindeutschungsprogramm“:
In den besetzten Ländern wurden „arische“ Kinder geraubt, zu „deutscher
24
Lebensweise“ umerzogen und politisch zuverlässigen Pflege- oder Adpotiveltern
übergeben.
Die in „Lebensborn“-Heimen geborenen unehelichen und die verschleppten
Kinder erfuhren ähnliche Traumatisierung wie andere „Kriegskinder“: Größtenteils erlebten sie nie die Geborgenheit und Wärme einer Familie. Sie wurden
von Heim zu Heim geschoben oder mussten die Pflegefamilie wechseln.
Häufig wurde ihnen ihre Herkunft auch im späteren Lebensalter verschwiegen.
Selbst jene, die bei ihren leiblichen Müttern aufwuchsen, erfuhren selten die
Wahrheit über ihre Geburt, die Väter wurden ihnen verschwiegen. Verlust
und Verleugnen, Verunsicherung, Scham- und Schuldgefühle erschwerten den
Kindern Identitätsfindung und Bindungsfähigkeit und traumatisierten sie für
den Rest ihres Lebens.
Die vom „Lebensborn e.V.” geführten Standesamtsunterlagen wurden (mit
Ausnahme in Norwegen) bei Kriegsende zum Teil vernichtet oder gingen
verloren und so suchen die in den „Lebensborn“-Heimen geborenen oder
„eingedeutschten“ ehemaligen Kinder zum Teil bis heute nach ihren leiblichen
Eltern.
Buchlesung „Besatzungskinder – Die Töchter und Söhne alliierter
Soldaten in Deutschland“
Autor: Ute Baur-Timmerbrink, Berlin (Deutschland)
Podiumsdiskussion: Winfried Behlau
Heide Glaesmer
Gisela Heidenreich
Michael Martin
Birgrit Michler
Ingvill Mochmann
Ute Baur-Timmerbrink
25
Abstracts: Symposia
Symposium 2: Experiences of Stigma and
Discrimination in Children Born of War
The impacts of stigma and acceptance on mental health outcomes
and parenting attitudes among women raising children from sexual
violence-related pregnancies in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo
Authors: Jennifer Scott (Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, USA),
Shada Rouhani, Ashley Greiner, Katherine Albutt, Philipp Kuwert,
Michele Hacker, Michael VanRooyen, Susan Bartels
Background: Sexual violence in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo
(DRC) has mental health and psychosocial consequences, including stigma
and social rejection. There are limited data on how stigma and acceptance
impact mental health and parenting attitudes for women raising children from
sexual violence-related pregnancies (SVRP).
Methods: Adult women raising children from an SVRP were recruited using
respondent-driven sampling in South Kivu Province, DRC, in 2012. Symptom
criteria for major depressive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety,
and suicidality were assessed. Stigma toward the woman and her child and
acceptance of the woman and child from the spouse, family, and community
were analyzed. A parenting index assessed the maternal-child relationship.
Univariate and multivariable analyses were performed. Qualitative data were
analyzed using content thematic analysis.
Results: Among 757 women, those reporting stigma from the community or
stigma toward the children from the spouse, family, or community were more
likely to meet symptom criteria for most mental health disorders. Although not
statistically significant, women reporting acceptance of themselves and their
children from the spouse, family, or community were less likely to meet symptom
criteria. Stigma toward the child and maternal depression and anxiety were
associated with less adaptive parenting attitudes, while acceptance of the
woman or child was associated with more adaptive attitudes. Themes related
to the complexity of emotions toward the SVRP emerged from the qualitative
data analysis.
26
Conclusions: Stigma and acceptance correlate with mental health outcomes
and parenting attitudes among women raising children from SVRPs and should
be considered as part of comprehensive research and programming.
Experiences of Public Stigma and Self-Stigma in German and Austrian
Occupation Children
Authors: Marie Kaiser (University of Leipzig, Germany),
Anna-Lena Assmann, Philipp Kuwert, Heide Glaesmer
Background: So far there has been historical research on ‘occupation
children‘ of World War II in Germany (GOC) and Austria (AOC), nevertheless,
studies investigating individual and specific experiences when growing up as
occupation child from a psychosocial perspective were missing. It is beyond
question that experiences of stigmatization and discrimination, on a more or
less overt level, have been a fundamental and formative part of occupation
childrens’ childhood and adolescence. They carried a double stigma as a
child born out of wedlock and a child of the enemy. This fact showed in
frequently used cusses like ‘Russian brat‘ or ‘Ami bastard‘, but in experiences
of segregation and discrimination within their social environment as well.
Methods: Between March and August 2013 GOC were recruited via press
release and by means of contacting different networks and online platforms.
In Austria the call for participants was distributed in 2014 via the cooperating
partner (Ludwig-Boltzmann-Institut, Graz). In Germany 146, in Austria 112,
occupation children completed a comprehensive questionnaire with open and
closed questions about living conditions in childhood and adolescence as
well as their current mental health. One part of the questionnaire specifically
aimed at investigating experience of stigmatization in occupation children.
Two established instruments were applied, assessing stigmatizing experiences
(ISE) and degree of stigma internalization (ISMI), and adapted to the target
group in cooperation with experienced researchers.
Results: More than half (54.6%) of GOC reported stigma experiences in
childhood and adolescence based on the fact of being an occupation child.
Reasons stated were ‘mother having a relationship with a foreign soldier‘
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Abstracts: Symposia
(57.1%), ‘biological background or inherited characteristics in appearance‘
(24.7%), ‘being born out of wedlock‘ (11.7%). Further psychometric and
qualitative analyses of modified questionnaires from the GOC study will be
introduced and compared to results of the AOC study.
Children Born of War: Stigma, self-stigma and discrimination of
children fathered by German soldiers in Norway during WW II
Authors: Martin Miertsch (University of Greifswald, Germany),
Heide Glaesmer, Ingvill C. Mochmann, Marie Kaiser, Harald J. Freyberger,
Ketil J. Ødegaard, Philipp Kuwert
Background: On April 9th in 1940, German troops invaded Norway. Nine
months later the first ‘Wehrmacht-children‘ were born. In the course of World
War II 13 ‘Lebensborn-homes‘ were established in Norway, including the first
outside the former German Reich and more than in any other country occupied
by the Nazi regime. In the archives of Lebensborn almost 8,000 children were
registered. It is estimated that 10,000 to 12,000 children were born during
the German occupation in Norway, whose fathers belonged to the German
troops and their mothers were Norwegian citizens.
‘Wehrmacht-children‘ carried a double stigma: Being born out of wedlock
and being the result of a relationship with the enemy. Their social environment
was discriminatory and segregated them; they were ridiculed and, in many
cases, physically and mentally abused. The children also suffered a variety of
reprisals from the state.
Methods: Norwegian ‘Wehrmacht-children‘ were interviewed with the help
of an extensive questionnaire with standardized psychometric instruments and
explorative questions. Stigmatizing experiences were assessed with slightly
modified scales from ‘Inventory of Stigmatising Experiences‘ and ‘internalized
stigma of mental illness scale‘.
Results: 105 questionnaires were sent out in November 2013 and 275
questionnaires in May 2014. Until March 2015 we received the response of
80 participants. Of these, 76% had experienced prejudices. At the meeting in
June 2015, detailed results will be presented.
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Symposium 3: Identity Issues in Children Born of
War
Subjective Identity aspects in former German Children Born of World
War II
Authors: Philipp Kuwert (University of Greifswald, Germany),
Diana Kunitz, Marie Kaiser, Heide Glaesmer
Background: Children Born of War (CBOW) grew up in an ambivalent
societal atmosphere between acceptance and rejection. The German CBOW
were mostly socialised in absence of their biological fathers. Despite the
historical work on German CBOW, there is a lack of psychosocial studies
focusing on subjective identity in this particular group.
Methods: 146 German CBOW were investigated with a comprehensive
questionnaire, including items concerning their identity development, current
subjective identity and the subjective importance of knowing the biographical
background of their father, in 2013.
Results and Discussion: The presentation shows qualitative and quantitative
analyses of identity aspects. Subgroups such as children of Russian vs. West
Allied soldiers, children born of relationships vs. children born of rape, and
others, will be compared.
Parentage, kinship, identity. Empirical results from the field of
sociology of the family
Author: Dorett Funcke
University of Hagen, Germany
This lecture focuses on the social phenomenon of the so called ‘donor semen
children‘. These are children who were conceived by anonymous sperm
donation because of one parent’s infertility. So far, about 100,000 children
were conceived that way in Germany, approximately 4,500–5,000 are added
each year. 90% of these children do not know how they were conceived.
Therefore we only have limited knowledge about the way in which ‘donor
29
Abstracts: Symposia
semen children‘ deal with the unknowing about their genetic ‘origin‘ and how
they digest their technical conception. The first generation of ‘donor semen
children‘ are adults now and a process initiated, which was not intended by
the pioneers of this reproductive medical procedure and they underestimated
the social consequences in their impact: the search of these ‘fatherless‘ (young)
adults for their biological fathers.
In this lecture, preliminary results of a case-reconstructive research are
introduced. The data basis of this study are interviews with ‘donor semen
children‘. For the better understanding of lifeworld coherences of the soconceived children, it has been proven helpful in the case analysis to
distinguish between two forms of knowledge, namely unknowing and secret.
Due to the introduction of this distinction, one can differentiate between entirely
‘absent’ knowledge and available knowledge. Concealed knowledge (secret)
must be distinguished from entirely inaccessible knowledge (unknowing).
This lecture illustrates on the basis of case studies, that the unknowing and
the associated unsolvable uncertainty concerning the biological origin is a
deeply problematic social issue. In fact, there are modifying factors which
attenuate the blank space of origin during the process of further socialization.
Nevertheless, one result of the study is, that regardless of relatively convenient
factors, the unknowing about their physical origin absorbs the social potential
of these children or (young) adults to a large extent and have a lasting effect
on life orientation.
30
Symposium 4: Human Rights and Children Born
of War
The Law and Children Born of War: Rape, Slavery and Consent across
Enemy Lines
Author: Jean Allain and Eithne Dowds
School of Law, Queen’s University, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK
Children Born of War are manifest through instances of rape but also by way
of the enslavement of women qua ‘forced marriages’. This paper will consider
a number of legal issues which transpired before the Special Court of Sierra
Leone around consent and with regard to Children Born of War.
In the first instance, consideration will be given to the legal status of rape in time
of war, the product being a child. The approach of the Special Court touched
on the accused’s knowledge of the victim’s non-consent. It will be argued that
consent, rightly understood, cannot be given in conflict situations; that the
power dynamics between solider and civilian are so inherently coercive that
willing submission – or even affirmative consent – should not be recognized as
constituting consent. The inclusion of consent is rooted in a patriarchal subtext
that should be eroded rather than endorsed.
Also to emerge from the determinations of the Special Court of Sierra Leone,
is the consideration of so-called ‘bush wives’, women abducted by rebel
soldiers and forced to porter, cook, wash, and to have sexual intercourse.
This phenomenon of ‘bush wives’ has in many instances led to Children
Born of War. In 2008, the Special Court determined for the first time that
such ‘forced marriages’ constitute a crime against humanity. The paper will
challenge the findings of the Special Court, arguing that such instances do
not constitute ‘marriages’ in any but the most patriarchal understanding of the
term, and instead constitute enslavement as a war crime. That done, the paper
will consider the status in law of children born of such ‘relationships’, and
consider some instances where such ‘bush wives’ remain with their captors,
the Children Born of War, constituting a family.
The paper will then go further in asking the question whether, in war, any
child born across enemy lines should be considered a product of either rape
31
Abstracts: Symposia
or enslavement? Can free consent be given across enemy lines? Should unions
between military forces and civilians under occupation be sanctioned by
law? What of such unions between UN Peacekeepers and women in refugee
camps? Are Children Born of War a product of collaboration?
Children Born of War and the Wartime Enslavement of Women in
Africa: Linking the Historical and the Contemporary
Author: Benedetta Rossi
School of History and Cultures, University of Bimingham, UK
This paper considers the evolution of wartime practices involving the sexual
and conjugal enslavement of women in Africa from pre-colonial African
wars to the present day. It argues that seeing contemporary practices from
a historical perspective exposes their cultural and institutional underpinnings
and can advance our understanding of how these events are experienced
by those involved in them. Recent conflicts in Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone,
Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan, Mali, and
Northern Nigeria resulted in the massive enslavement of women and girls,
often accompanied by legitimizing ideologies developed by rebel armies and
perpetrators. They also resulted in these women giving birth to Children Born
of War, who often grew up facing stigma and marginalization in post-conflict
societies. These phenomena are not new. The wartime enslavement of women
for the purpose of subjecting them to forced sexual and conjugal associations
has a long history in the societies in question. It has been defended as grounded
in legitimate institutions by the spokepersons of groups such as Islamic State,
Boko Haram, and the Lord Resistance Army. This paper focuses on continuities
and changes in the circumstances of sexually/conjugally enslaved women
and their children. It discusses specific case studies and examines the ‘contexts
of choice’ in which these women found themselves; the institutions that they
could mobilise to seek protection and advance their own agendas; and the
consequences of their chosen course of action for them and their children.
32
A qualitative assessment of parenting experiences among women
with sexual violence-related pregnancies in Eastern Democratic
Republic of Congo
Author: Susan Bartels (Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, Boston, USA;
Queen‘s University, Kingston, Canada), Shada Rouhani, Jennifer Scott,
Ashley Greiner, Katherine Albutt, Michael VanRooyen, Philipp Kuwert,
Gillian Burkhardt, Sadia Haider, Monica Onyango, Colleen Mullen
Background: Widespread sexual violence in Democratic Republic of Congo
(DRC) has numerous outcomes, including sexual violence-related pregnancies
(SVRPs). Little is known about the experiences of women who have SVRPs and
who parent children from SVRPs.
Methods: We used respondent-driven sampling (RDS) to recruit participants
in South Kivu Province, DRC in October – November 2012. Women who
self-reported a SVRP were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire
to better understand their pregnancy and parenting experiences and to learn
more about attitudes towards children born from SVRPs.
Results: Of the 55 participants with SVRPs, the average age was 34 years
and the average number of children per participant was 3.9. Most participants
had either been abandoned or were separated from their partners (29%), were
widowed (23%), had never been married (20%) or were currently married
(20%). Thirty-nine participants had delivered and were raising the child and 16
had terminated the SVRPs. Results indicated a complex emotional response to
the pregnancy and in many cases, mixed feelings towards the child. Decision
making around continuing or terminating the pregnancy was multifaceted and
included moral considerations, health concerns, religious beliefs and legal
consequences. Some participants expressed concern about having a child
without a known father while others were concerned about raising a child
fathered by an armed combatant or a perpetrator of violence. In contrast,
some participants described their children from SVRPs as being no different
from other children and called for their acceptance. The most commonly cited
strategy for responding to the situation was moving to a new location. When
asked about their concerns and needs for the future, a majority of women
requested education, shelter, food, and health care. Additionally, participants
33
Abstracts: Symposia
expressed concern about stigma and about being ridiculed, and called for
greater respect for Congolese women as well as for an end to the violence.
Conclusions: Women with SVRPs often have mixed emotional responses to
both the pregnancies and to their children. Further research is needed to better
understand the complex relationships between survivors of sexual violence
and children being raised from SVRPs, allowing individuals and families to be
better supported within their communities.
Symposium 5: Contemporary Challenges of
Children Born of War from a Psychosocial
Perspective
Traumatized mothers and mother-child-interaction
Author: Elisa van Ee
Institute of Psychotrauma/Foundation Center 45, Diemen, The Netherlands
Maternal traumatization has been proposed as a risk factor for child
development, but the mechanisms involved are poorly understood. A recent
study analyzed the interrelations among maternal post-traumatic stress
symptoms, parent-child interaction and child development among 67 asylumseeker and refugee mothers and their children (18–42 months). Measures
included assessment of mothers’ posttraumatic responses and co-morbid
symptoms, patterns of emotional availability within parent-child interaction,
and infants’ psychosocial functioning and attachment. This presentation will
provide data of structured and thorough observations of parent-child interactions
among refugees often severely traumatized by war. The results show that
higher levels of maternal post-traumatic stress symptoms are associated with
a lower quality of the mother-child interaction, and with attachment disorders.
The specificity of the case of mothers with a child conceived in rape will
be highlighted. On one hand the results indicate the need for traumatized
parents to receive an effective treatment of PTSD symptomatology while on the
other hand they should be supported to establish or confirm secure models of
34
attachment experiences, to facilitate their ability interact sensitively and form
a secure relationship with their children.
War Rape Context, Stigma and Silence related to War Rape Victims
and Children Born of War in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Experiences
and Reflections 1992–2015
Author: Amra Delic (School of Medicine, University of Tuzla, Bosnia and
Herzegovina), Esmina Avdibegovic
During the war (1992–1995) in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H), over
20,000 women and girls were exposed to systematic sexual persecution,
rape, enslavement, deliberate keeping in detention and sexual torture in the
pogroms of ‘ethnic cleansing‘. Some of them were forced to bear a child
or forced to abortion. Due to specific war circumstances, in order to avoid
ostracism and family rejection, with the help of international agencies many
women survivors of rape were resettled in a third and distant countries,
especially those who gave birth and decided to abandon a child conceived
through rape. It is documented that some of those children were murdered
(infanticide). In Bosnian traditional society, the rape is still considered as a
matter of shame and humiliation not only for the victim but for the victim’s
family and community. Although the subject of rape and unwanted pregnancy
that resulted from rape have been reported since the beginning of the war
in the early 1990s, many women remain silent over 20 years due to fear
of being stigmatized and rejected by their family. Thus, the exact figures of
those crimes have been hard to establish, and estimates of the number of war
children fathered by enemy soldiers vary widely between tenths over hundreds
to thousands. The silence and stigma surrounding war rape in B&H have been
also attached to children born of it for very many years. After growing in the
shadows of the past and entering adolescence, the issue of identity opened up
and abandoned children start to search their biological origin. In this paper
authors will illustrate war rape cases and elaborate a complexity of intrapsychic
conflict and societal meaning of the silence and stigma surrounding war rape
and babies born from rape in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
35
Abstracts: Symposia
Children born from conflict: A synthesis of data from four conflicts in
the Great Lakes Region
Author: Jocelyn Kelly
Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, Boston, USA; John Hopkins University,
Baltimore, USA
In this presentation, I will synthesize results from a number of projects that the
Women in War Program has undertaken in the past 7 years. Data has been
collected in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan, Uganda, and
Central African Republic. Each project examined the effects of conflict on local
communities, with a specific focus of understanding the impact on women. In
the course of this data collection, women from four countries with a variety of
experiences related to conflict spoke about the issue of children born of rape.
In this presentation, I will synthesize those results, with recommendations for
potential programming to address this problem.
The research findings highlight the fact the women with children born of
rape struggle to create functioning families, but they often face stigma within
their families, peer support groups and communities at large. Sensitization
campaigns and involving key stakeholders such as community leaders can
help reduce stigma against these individuals. In addition, counseling and
meditation services can help people in the community understand how to react
to families with children born of sexual violence.
36
Venue
How to Reach
Schloss Herrenhausen
Herrenhäuser Straße 5
30419 Hannover
Germany
Tel.: +49 511 763744-0
E-Mail: info(at)schloss-herrenhausen.de
www.schloss-herrenhausen.de
Quelle: www.schloss-herrenhausen.de
By public transport:
Subway/tram 4 or 5, or bus 136 to ‘Herrenhäuser Gärten‘ stop
By car:
From the north or south:
Autobahn (motorway) A7 / A35 to A2, then take ‘Herrenhausen‘ exit
(highway B6) in the direction of ‘Zentrum‘ (city center).
37
Venue
From the east or west:
Autobahn (motorway) A2, then take ‘Herrenhausen‘ exit (highway B6) in the
direction of ‘Zentrum‘ (city center).
GPS destination: Herrenhaeuser Str. 5, 30419 Hannover
38
Notes
39
Notes
40
Editor:
PD Dr. Heide Glaesmer
University of Leipzig,
Medical Faculty,
Department for Medical Psychology
and Medical Soziology
Photo:
Eberhard Franke for the
Volkswagen Foundation
Design:
Barbara Brendel (Leipzig)
Print:
Motiv Offset Druckerei (Berlin)
05/2015