After Rape: Violence, Justice, and Social Harmony in Uganda

Following the ICC intervention in 2005, northern Uganda has been at the heart of international justice debates. The emergent controversy, however, missed crucial aspects of Acholi realities: that the primary moral imperative in the wake of wrongdoing was not punishment but, instead, the restoration of social harmony. Drawing upon abundant fieldwork and in-depth interviews with almost 200 women, Holly Porter examines issues surrounding wrongdoing and justice, and sexual violence and rape, among the Acholi people in northern Uganda. This intricate exploration offers evidence of a more complicated and nuanced explanation of rape and its aftermath, suggesting a re-imagining of the meanings of post-atrocity justice, whilst acknowledging the role of sex, power and politics in all sexual experiences between coercion and consent. With its wide investigation of social life in northern Uganda, this provocative study offers vital analysis for those interested in sexual and gender violence, post-conflict reconstruction and human rights.

Holly Porter is a Research Fellow at the Department of International Development at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and lead researcher for the Justice and Security Research Programme in northern Uganda, where she has lived and worked for over ten years. Dr Porter's research has focused on gender, sexualities and sexual violence, war and violence, and local notions of healing and justice. Her work has been published in journals including Africa, the Women's Studies International Forum, and the Journal of Eastern African Studies.