Abstract:

Many post-conflict countries are characterized by a lack of human security. Women are particularly affected by violent crimes, sometimes akin to or even more than during armed conflict. Only recently has attention been drawn to femicides. Why does femicide appear to transcend between war and peace? How can the (human) security of women be improved in the long-term through a profound process of societal conflict transformation? This article answers these questions with an empirical focus on how the past of internal armed conflict was dealt with in Latin America. The region experienced state terrorism by military dictatorships in the second half of the 20th century and is one of the most insecure places for women today. Our concrete research aims are threefold: First, to locate femicide on a continuum of human insecurity between war and peace; second, to make gender-related killings committed during dictatorship visible as femicides, not solely sexualized crimes; and third, to highlight the need for a more comprehensive gender-critical human security concept. The article interprets achievements in international criminal justice as well as the increasing social protest against gendered crimes in Latin America as a starting point for a “Conflict Transformation 2.0.”