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1. 1 2021-05-06T18:57:43-04:00 Sarah York-Bertram 79c90f81cbadbcee036c97b91365eec227a9fa16 What does family mean in the LRA context? Sarah York-Bertram 5 Annotation: Grace Acan explains what a family means in the context of the LRA. Acan is speaking in English. Transcript (by Patricia Trudel): "[...] if, the commander, a family typically is [...] a household that has a commander; this commander has a woman or women that he has been given to. Those include like young girls, those who are there old already, and hum, those that the commander is just keeping, or like newly abducted hum girls, or newly abducted people. That includes boys, the old boys that were there. So, the young girls that were there, the commander would call them 'the child' or 'children'. Hum, for the, even for the boys, so it was upon this woman or the women who have been assigned to this commander to cook food for whoever lived in that household, under that commander. So that was a family. So anybody who was abducted, brought, would automatically become like a member of that family. So that's how, that was the nature. Like anybody brought into that household was really like, a child or like any, yeah, would remain there. That's how the family was." plain 2022-08-29T14:37:22-04:00 Sarah York-Bertram 79c90f81cbadbcee036c97b91365eec227a9fa16
2. 1 2021-05-06T18:57:05-04:00 Sarah York-Bertram 79c90f81cbadbcee036c97b91365eec227a9fa16 Drawing, then talking about it Sarah York-Bertram 5 Annotation: Evelyn Amony explains how survivors used drawings to tell stories. The drawings provide a view into family life. Amony is speaking in Acholi in the audio recording and Grace Acan translates in English. Transcript (by Patricia Trudel): "The drawing is illustrating how we used to tell our stories. So, each one would draw, then draw something and then talk about, like it shows for example, how LRA setting, like a camp, a typical camp was. Of all these homes of commanders you see, despite their being so close, like, each family was not allowed to go and visit another or see or speak to them. So, despite the closeness of the families can stay like two months without seeing the next one, much as you are so close to each other. So there were like, strict regulations that governs, hum, like families or like LRA community." plain 2022-08-29T14:45:17-04:00 Sarah York-Bertram 79c90f81cbadbcee036c97b91365eec227a9fa16
3. 1 2021-05-06T18:55:31-04:00 Sarah York-Bertram 79c90f81cbadbcee036c97b91365eec227a9fa16 A typical LRA camp Sarah York-Bertram 5 Annotation: Grace Acan explains what the drawings depict: a typical LRA camp. Acan is speaking English in this audio recording. Transcript (by Patricia Trudel): " [...] you're seeing the huts. This also shows how LRA, like how the camp, LRA camp was like. So, within a camp, there was hum, the commander who was in the centre. They were like brigades, like four brigades that surrounded, and each brigade had a commander, and each commander had like soldiers who are surrounding, so it's like the setting, generally how the setting was in LRA. So, this like some of the top commanders you find names written there, like, this is so and so's name. This is commander so and so, so the way the setting in LRA, typical LRA camp was." plain 2022-08-29T14:51:05-04:00 Sarah York-Bertram 79c90f81cbadbcee036c97b91365eec227a9fa16

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• 1 2021-07-02T14:47:49-04:00 Survivors 19 Page: this is the beginning of the path through the survivors' perspectives and responses to the traveling exhibit. Survivors' perspectives are centred in the exhibit itself. And, the exhibit has been presented to survivors of conjugal slavery in war. This path also includes a co-authored reflection by Evelyn Amony and Grace Acan about their experiences presenting the exhibit to survivors, affected communities, and the general public in Canada and in Uganda. plain 2022-04-30T15:16:26-04:00 Sarah York-Bertram; Andrea González

  
  Survivors' perspectives informed the exhibit's development. Survivors from northern Uganda shared their stories and their drawings. Original drawings by former abductees depict life in captivity. These drawings help their audience to understand survivors' experiences and their needs now. The drawings also support survivors in their storytelling. Survivors' leadership and their definition of justice and reparations are supported by the exhibition.

  “So there were several issues that were affecting them [survivors] like health issues; socially they were not accepted; economically they had issues. That’s why today I would like to say that in terms of justice, according to my analysis and interactions with those affected by war—who I represent here today—justice to the women I represent is dealing with their needs.” - Grace Acan, 2019, CMHR event

  “Justice” has different meanings for different people. Also, justice can mean different things depending on the context. In a legal context, justice is associated with going to court and holding perpetrators accountable for their actions. However, legal storytelling does not always serve survivors.
  
  For survivors of forced marriage in war justice addresses their needs now. Ododo Wa encourages survivors to share what justice means to them. By making space to talk about justice for survivors and their communities consensus can be built about what holistic survivor-centred justice and reparations entail. Gender is a key dimension of survivors' experiences and needs. Through their work Acan and Amony show that justice is not just going to court. Real justice requires conversations about what happened during the war, its ongoing effects and gendered dimensions, as well as survivors’ needs. 
  
  Transitional justice processes have started in Uganda. However, there are many barriers for survivors to access justice. Limited access to justice creates barriers for survivor-centred justice. It also prevents survivors' from contributing to legal discourse and definitions. Since forced marriage in war is often connected to sexual assault, forced pregnancy, forced birth, forced motherhood, and other types of forced labour associated with social reproduction in a conflict zone, survivor-centred spaces, with childcare, healthcare and economic supports, must be established, protected, and continuously fostered.
  
  Survivors’ gender-specific needs vary based on their own contexts. Therefore, survivor-centred justice refers to addressing the different needs of survivors, even if that may vary from person to person. As Acan states, holistic survivor-centred justice is urgent:

   “we [survivors] would like to see transitional justice implemented while we’re still alive.”

  Survivors’ advocacy efforts, and their calls for reparations, including access to education, healthcare, food and water, and other vital resources, must be treated as urgent and benefit them directly. 
  
  A holistic meaning of gender justice is showcased through the exhibit and the conversations it inspires. Curatorial decisions, such as including survivors' drawings and collaborating in choosing which artefacts to showcase, are part of the justice-making processes of the exhibit.
  
  
  Using artefacts and drawings shifts the focus away from the violence of the war. Instead, the focus is on the perspective and experiences of women and girls. This exhibit foregrounds Acan's and Amony's agency, strength, and resilience as well as their efforts to access and expand justice. 
  
  What do survivors need now? 
  
  Read Grace Acan and Evelyn Amon's reflection about presenting the traveling exhibit in Uganda.   
  
  Sources:

  • Quotes and audio recordings featured on this page are drawn from the Canadian Museum for Human Rights' "Ododo Wa: Stories of Girls in War" exhibit launch, held 23 October, 2019. If you are interested in reviewing the transcripts, please email your request to csiwproj@yorku.ca.