Viable justice: survivors of sexual and gender-based violence and/or torture amongst South Sudanese refugees living in settlements in Northern Uganda

• Date: 06 February 2024
• Pages: 125-147
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJMHSC-12-2022-0121
• Published date: 06 February 2024
• Subject Matter: Health & social care,Vulnerable groups,Inequalities & diverse/minority groups,Sociology,Race & ethnic studies,Minorities,Multiculturalism,Racial identity,Work,economy & organizations,Labour movements
• Author: Helen Jane Liebling,Hazel Rose Barrett,Lillian Artz,Ayesha Shahid

Viable justice: survivors of sexual and

gender-based violence and/or torture

amongst South Sudanese refugees living

in settlements in Northern Uganda

Helen Jane Liebling, Hazel Rose Barrett, Lillian Artz and Ayesha Shahid

Abstract

Purpose –The study aimed to listen to refugeesurvivors of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV)

and/or torture and explore whatjustice meant to them in exile. This study argues that what the survivors

who participated in this research wanted was ‘‘viable justice’’. The research was funded by the British

Academyand Leverhulme Trust.

Design/methodology/approach –Using a survivor-focussed justice lens combined witha trauma-

informed approach, narrative interviews were held with 41 women and 20 men refugee survivors

living in refugee settlements in Northern Uganda. The r esearchers also conducted semi-structured

interviews with 37key informants including refugee welfare councils, the UN, civil society, non-

government and government organisations. Themati c analysis of the data resulted in the following

themes being identified: no hope of formal justice for atrocities that occurred in South Sudan;

insecurity; lack of confidence in transitional ju stice processes in Ugandan refugee settlements;

abuse and loss of freedom in refugee settlements; and lack of acc ess to health and justice services

in refugee settlements.

Findings –This study argues that what the survivors who participate d in this research wanted was

‘‘viable justice’’. That is justice that is survivor -centred and includes elements of traditional and

transitional justice, underpinned by social justice. By includingthe voices of both men and women

survivors of SGBV and/or torture and getting the vie ws of service providers and other stakeholders,

this paper offers an alternative form ofjustice to the internationally accepted types of justice, which

offer little relevance or restitution to refuge es, particularly where the crime has been committed in a

different country and where there is little chance that perpetrator s will be prosecuted in a formal

court of law.

Research limitations/implications –The research findings are based on a small sample of South

Sudanese refugees living in three refugee settlements in Nort hern Uganda. Thus, wider conclusions

should not be drawn. However, the research does suggest that a ‘‘viable justice’’ approach should

be implemented that is gender and culturally sensitive and whichcould also be trialled in different

refugee contexts.

Practical implications –Improvements in refugee survivors’ dignity, resilience and recovery are

dependent upon the active engagement of refugees themselves using a ‘‘survivor-focussed

approach’’ which combines formal and community-based health services with traditional and

transitional justice responses.

Social implications –The provisionof a ‘‘viable justice approach’’ ensuresthose who have experienced

SGBV and/or torture,and their families, feel validated. It will assist them to use their internal,cultural and

traditionalresilience and agency in the process of recovery.

Originality/value –The research findings are original in that data was collected from men and

women survivors of SGBV and/or torture and service providers. The empirical evidence supports

this study’s recommendation for an approach that combines bot h formal and survivor-focussed

approaches towards health and viable justice service s to meet the needs of refugees living in

Helen Jane Liebling and

Hazel Rose Barrett are both

based at the Institute for

Peace and Security and

Research Centre for Trust,

Peace and Social Relations,

Coventry University,

Coventry, UK. Lillian Artz is

based at the Gender, Health

and Justice Research Unit,

Faculty of Health Sciences,

University of Cape Town,

Observatory, South Africa.

Ayesha Shahid is based at

the Faculty of Law,

Coventry University,

Coventry, UK.

Received 13 December 2022

Revised 1 November 2023

Accepted 22 December 2023

The authors are sincerely

grateful to all participants of this

research, including refugees,

Government of Uganda and all

stakeholders, including the

Refugee Welfare Councils and

Kitgum Women’s Peace

Initiative, for their involvement

and the knowledge and

experiences they shared.

Funding: This work was

supported by British Academy/

Leverhulme funding (grant

number: SG170394).

DOI 10.1108/IJMHSC-12-2022-0121 VOL. 20 NO. 1 2024, pp. 127-149, ©Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1747-9894 jINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MIGRATION, HEALTHAND SOCIAL CARE jPAGE 127

refugee settlements. This is a response that listens to and respond s to the needs of refugee

survivors in a way that continuesto build their resilience and agency and restores their dignity.

Keywords Qualitative methods, Northern Uganda, SGBV and torture, South Sudanese refugees,

Trauma-informed approach, Viable justice

Paper type Research paper

Statement and purpose of the paper

International responses to sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and torture are often

framed by international conventions which centre criminal justice approaches. A criminal

justice system is complex and involves government agencies and institutions of law

enforcement that comprise police, lawyers, courts, sentences and punishment. Criminal

justice systems usually require high levels of proof often involving scientific evidence and

expert opinion, they can therefore be time-consuming and expensive. For many refugees

who have experienced violations of their human rights and are now living in refugee

settlements in a foreign country, access to and the process of seeking criminal justice

through such a system is impossible.

As a response to such situations transitional justice has been proposed to allow those who

have been victims of systematic or widespread violations of human rights to be heard and

to get some closure. Transitionaljustice is based on four fundamental obligations:

1. taking reasonable steps to prevent human rights violations;

2. to conduct investigations of violations when they occur;

3. to impose suitable sanctions on those responsible for the violations; and

4. to ensure reparation for the victims of the violations (ICFJ, 2009, p. 2).

Transitional justice therefore focuses on the victims of such atrocities being recognised and

heard.

The tools of transitional justice can be a mixture of the following that are deemed suitable

and acceptable to those affected: criminal prosecution of those in high office who are seen

as perpetrators or encouraging/inciting such acts; truth commissions, often official state

bodies; reparation programmes usually state-sponsored initiatives that “help to repair the

material and moral damages of past abuse”(ICTJ, 2009, p. 1); gender justice for males and

females who have survived SGBV; and reforming the security system “from instruments of

repression and corruption intoinstruments of public service and integrity” (ICTJ, 2009, p. 1).

However whilst transitional justice can be seen to have been successful in a number of

nation–state contexts, such as South Africa, Rwanda and The Gambia, there is little

evidence that transitional justicecan be successfully implemented in refugee settlements in

alien countries, where the atrocitieshave occurred in a different jurisdiction or country.

Many refugee survivors of SGBV and/or torture recognise that criminal and transitional

justice approaches are not practical, achievable or even suitable to their own

circumstances. Instead they ask for social justice to be delivered. Social justice is

understood to be justice within a state or society in relation to a fair balance in the

distribution of wealth, opportunities and privileges within a society where an individual’s

rights are recognised and protected (Human Rights Careers, 2023). In the context of

refugees living in refugee settlements this would include security, shelter, food, clean

water and safe sanitation, access to education and health services and the opportunity

to make a livelihood.

Using a survivor-focused justice lens(GWI, 2021;McQuigg, 2017) combined with a trauma-

informed approach, this researchinvestigated the experiences of South Sudanese men and

women refugee survivors of SGBV and/or torture living in refugee settlements in Northern

Uganda and service providers and other stakeholders.

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