The role of women in post-conflict transformation in the Horn of Africa : a case study of Eritrea

This study examines how the relationship between gender and traditional and modern conceptions or expressions of gender identities developed during the Eritrean war of liberation and will explain the subsequent regression to submissive gender roles for women in the period of independence. The changes in gender roles were generated within the context of a military liberation structure, with an administrative structure of governance that has not fundamentally changed since the end of military liberation struggle. The Eritrean state is based on a one party - one command system under martial rule, justified by the authorities in terms of the ongoing threats perceived of an invasion from neighbouring country and former occupier Ethiopia. While military structures tend to emphasise stereotypes of masculinity and femininity, it can allow for new directives of gender-roles. However, if changes in gender-roles are not matched by supporting conceptions of masculinity and femininity, this may evolve to a conflicting and confusing social definition of gender-relations and contribute to further conflict.