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  • Title: Conflict and the women of Chad.
    Author: Sy AD.
    Journal: Focus Gend; 1993 Jun; 1(2):10-2. PubMed ID: 12345211.
    Abstract:
    Chad was used as an example of how women and children were the most affected during national and international conflicts. The conditions of women before and during the conflict were described. Chad has been a country involved in a war provoked by psychological differences between the way of life, economic activity, and culture of Arab Muslims who are nomadic pastoralists, and Animist and Christian farmers. The important year was 1979, when the country was torn apart by civil war. Women before the conflict were part of a patriarchal society of men heading households and sole producers for the family. One decision maker controlled family matters: the man. Men also possessed all household goods. Women were biological and social producers, and value was placed on having large numbers of children. Muslim women lived in seclusion. Married women, who engaged in commercial activity, were mocked and exposed their husbands to the humiliation of not being able to provide sufficiently for the family. Between 1979 and 1982, many men were exiled to other countries nearby, which sometimes meant the abandonment of women and children. The remaining men were limited in their ability to earn money, and reverted to fishing, farming, and hunting. Gender relations changed. Survival strategies were developed, such as women working as domestics or selling products. Petty trading and agricultural and market gardening enterprises were flourishing. Women learned skills in dressmaking, embroidery, or knitting. Sometimes long distances were traveled in order to secure income. Women set up their own banking system with a system of "tontines" or savings cooperatives. The war's impact was to disrupt social and private life, which allowed women to enter the public domain and contribute to economic security. The downside of the conflict was the toll in human life and poverty for vast numbers of women and children. The physical, financial, and psychological exhaustion helped to create an awareness of women's essential role in the survival of their families and communities.
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