The ligaments of counter-terrorism regime: sexual violence and the vicarious traumatisation of female non-governmental organisation workers: evidence from Nigeria

ABSTRACT

There is a dearth of studies on indirect victims of sexual violence in counter-terrorism efforts. Using Nigeria as a case study, this paper argues that global and state-level counter-terrorism policies have generally failed to account for the psychological effects of the engagement of female NGO workers in counter-terrorism operations or mitigating the effects of terrorism in conflict zones. Specifically, there has been an increase in sexual violence perpetrated by some members of the security agencies involved in counter-terrorism operations in North-eastern Nigeria. As a result, female NGO workers carry out Medicare, psychosocial counselling and advocacy for these victims. Female NGO workers become exposed to the trauma of victims of sexual violence, which affects their mental health and thus performances in counter-terrorism activities in the country. This altered their worldview on issues of safety even among secured locations or among the presence of security agents and reinforced feelings of powerlessness.

KEYWORDS:

• Africa
• Boko Haram
• Islamic state of West African province
• Terrorism
• gender-based violence or conflict related sexual violence
• aid workers
• humanitarianism
• vicarious growth

Acknowledgments

The author wishes to thank Anne-Kathrin Kreft, my research assistants, Joshua Akintayo and Oyetunde Olusola and the anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Aoláin, “The ‘War on Terror’ and Extremism” and “Situating Women in Counterterrorism Discourses”; Hearne, “Participants, Enablers, and Preventers”; Kreft, "The gender mainstreaming gap: Security Council resolution 1325 and UN peacekeeping mandates" and Pratt, “Reconceptualizing Gender, Reinscribing Racial.”

2. Vicarious traumatisation entails a change in the perception of the world and self due to the exposure of the traumatic experiences of victims. McCann and Pearlman, first, vicarious traumatisation process works by altering the cognitive schemas, i.e. the worldview of the therapist such as her/his beliefs, expectations and assumptions. Views about themselves and their belief system are affected as they interact with traumatised victims. The therapist exposure may disrupt her/his extant sense of dependency/trusts, safety, power, independence, esteem and intimacy. (More on vicarious traumatisation will be discussed in more details in subsequent sections.)

3. Pearlman and Mac, “Vicarious Traumatization.”

4. Isobel and Angus-Leppan, “Neuro-reciprocity and vicarious trauma in psychiatrists”; Van Deusen and Way, “Vicarious Trauma”; and Wies and Coy, “Measuring Violence.”

5. Dombo and Blome, “Vicarious Trauma in Child Welfare Workers”; Michialopoulos and Aparicio, “Vicarious Trauma in Social Workers”; Schauden and Frazier “Vicarious Trauma: The Effects on Female Counselors of Working with Sexual Violence Survivors.”

6. Jaffe et al., “Vicarious Trauma in Judges”; and Levin and Greisberg, “Vicarious Trauma in Attorneys.”

7. Nikischer, “Vicarious Trauma Inside the Academe”; and Bischoping, “Timor Mortis Conturbat Me.”

8. Fuhr, “Vicarious Group”; and Blome and Safadi, “Shared Vicarious Trauma.”

9. Hill et al. 2004:7 Hill – these are not in bibliography. Please supply details; Felicity, et al., “UN Security Council Resolution 1325 Three Years On”; and Roundtable discussion at the Boston Consortium on Gender, Security and Human Rights, Boston, MA, January 20.

10. Aoláin, “The ‘War on Terror’ and Extremism”; and Pratt “Reconceptualizing Gender, Reinscribing Racial.”

11. Aoláin, “The ‘War on Terror’ and Extremism.”

12. By secured places I mean areas that are effectively secured by the military such as the various Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps and other areas that are effectively secured by security agents.

13. See Appendix 1 for demography of the list of interviewees.

14. For details of interview questions see Appendix 2.

15. Cockburn, C. “The Continuum of Violence,” 40.

16. Aroussi, “Women, Peace and Security.”

17. Enloe, Bananas, Beaches, and Bases, 53–199 and Aoláin, “The ‘War on Terror’ and Extremism”.

18. Anderlini, “Women Building Peace.”

19. Cockburn, “From Where We Stand.”

20. Bunch, et al., “International Networking for Women’s Human Rights.”

21. Cohn, “Mainstreaming Gender in UN Security Policy.”

22. Prattt, “Reconceptualizing Gender, Reinscribing Racial.”

23. Ibid.

24. Ibid, 778.

25. Aoláin, “The ‘war on Terror’ and Extremism,” 278.

26. See note 23 above.

27. Ibid.

28. Ibid.

29. Ibid., 258, 288.

30. Smith and Barrett, “Psychology, Extreme Environments, and Counter-Terrorism Operations.”

31. McCann and Pearlman, “Vicarious Traumatization.”

32. Baird and Kracen, “Vicarious Traumatization and Secondary Traumatic Stress.”

33. Baird and Jenkins, “Vicarious Traumatization, Secondary Traumatic Stress.”

34. See note 23 above.

35. Ibid., 142:143.

36. Maslach, Burnout: The Cost of Caring.

37. Freudenberger, “The Hazards of being a Psychoanalyst.”

38. McCann and Pearlman, “Vicarious Traumatization,” 136.

39. Isobel and Angus-Leppan Neuro-reciprocity and vicarious trauma in psychiatrists; This does not appear in bibliography; Van Deusen and Way, “Vicarious Trauma”; and Wies and Coy, “Measuring Violence.”

40. Dombo and Blome, “Vicarious Trauma in Child Welfare Workers”; Michialopoulos and Aparicio, “Vicarious Trauma in Social Workers: The Role of Trauma History, Social Support, and Years of Experience.’; Schauden and Frazier “Vicarious Trauma: The Effects on Female Counselors of Working with Sexual Violence Survivors.”

41. See note 6 above.

42. See note 7 above.

43. See note 8 above.

44. Njoku, “Laws for Sale.”

45. Human Right Watch, “Officials Abusing Displaced Women.”

46. Amnesty International, “Nigeria: Starving women raped by soldiers and militia,” 1.

47. Author’s interview with a programme officer of an International Health care and advocacy organisations focused on vulnerable women and survivals of gender base violence (Borno; May 30, 2018); Author’s Interview with an executive of an NGO focused on Women’s rights and Development (Oyo; 23 April 2018); Author’s Interview with an international NGO focused on peace-building (Lagos; May 7, 2018); Author’s interview with a journalist covering women rights violation in the north-eastern Nigeria (Lagos; May 7, 2018); Author’s interview with a programme officer of an international Health-care services organisations (Borno; May 26, 2018)-; Author’s interview with a programme officer of local health care and development NGO (Borno; May 21, 2018) – Author’s interview with a director of an international human rights organisation (Abuja; May 25, 2018).

48. Author’s interview with a programme officer of an International Health care and advocacy organisations focused on vulnerable women and survivals of gender base violence (Borno; May 30, 2018);.

49. Author’s interview with an Officer of the National Security and Civil Defence Corp (NSCDC) (Oyo; May 13, 2018).

50. Author’s interview with an Officer of the National Security and Civil Defence Corp (NSCDC) (Oyo; May 13, 2018) Author’s interview a senior Army officer in the Nigerian Military (Yobe; May 31, 2018); Author’s interview with military personnel in the Nigerian Army (Yobe; May 30, 2018); Author’s interview with military personnel in the Nigerian Army (Yobe; May 30, 2018); Author’s interview with military personnel in the Nigerian Army (Yobe; May 30, 2018); Author’s interview with military personnel in the Nigerian Army (Yobe; May 30, 2018); Author’s interview with military personnel in the Nigerian Army (Yobe; May 30, 2018) Author’s interview with military personnel in the Nigerian Army (Yobe; May 30, 2018) Author’s interview with military personnel in the Nigerian Army (Yobe; May 30, 2018).

51. Author’s interview a senior Army officer in the Nigerian Military (Yobe; May 31, 2018); Author’s interview with military personnel in the Nigerian Army (Yobe; May 30, 2018) Author’s interview with military personnel in the Nigerian Army (Yobe; May 30, 2018).

52. Smith and Barrett, “Psychology, Extreme Environments, and Counter-Terrorism Operations,” 48–72.

53. McCann and Pearlman, “Vicarious Traumatization,” 138.

54. Leppan, “Neuro-reciprocity and Vicarious Trauma in Psychiatrists”; and Van Deusin and Way, “Vicarious Trauma.”

55. Blome and Safadi, “Shared Vicarious Trauma and the Effects on Palestinian Social Workers.”

56. Author’s Interview with an executive of an NGO focused on Women’s rights and Development (Oyo; 23 April 2018), Author’s interview with a programme officer of an International Health care and advocacy organisations focused on vulnerable women and survivals of gender base violence (Borno; May 30, 2018). Author’s Interview with an international NGO focused on peace-building (Lagos; May 7, 2018); Author’s interview with an NGO focused on gender-based violence (Borno; June 11, 2018).

57. Author’s interview with a programme officer of an International Health care and advocacy organisations focused on vulnerable women and survivals of gender base violence (Borno; May 30, 2018); Author’s Interview with an executive of an NGO focused on Women’s rights and Development (Oyo; 23 April 2018); Author’s Interview with an international NGO focused on peace-building (Lagos; May 7, 2018); Author’s interview with a journalist covering women rights violation in the north-eastern Nigeria (Lagos; May 7, 2018); Author’s interview with a programme officer of an international Health-care services organisations (Borno; May 26, 2018)-; Author’s interview with a programme officer of local health care and development NGO (Borno; May 21, 2018)-, Author’s interview with a director of an international human rights organisation (Abuja; May 25, 2018); Author’s interview with an NGO focused on gender-based violence (Borno; June 11, 2018).

58. Author’s Interview with an executive of an NGO focused on Women’s rights and Development (Oyo; 23 April 2018); Author’s Interview with an international NGO focused on peace-building (Lagos; May 7, 2018); Author’s Interview with an NGO executive focused on security and governance issues in Northern Nigeria (Abuja; May 2, 2018).

59. Author’s Interview with an international NGO focused on peace-building (Lagos; May 7, 2018).

60. Author’s interview with an executive of an NGO focused on Women’s rights and Development (Oyo; 23 April 2018); Author’s Interview with an international NGO focused on peace-building (Lagos; May 7, 2018).

61. Author’s interview with an executive of an NGO focused on Women’s rights and Development (Oyo; 23 April 2018).

62. Author’s interview with a programme officer of an International Health care and advocacy organisations focused on vulnerable women and survivals of gender base violence (Borno; May 30, 2018).

63. Author’s interview with a faith-based human rights advocacy organisation (Oyo; March 3, 2015).

64. See note 60 above.

65. Fakunmoju et al., “Attribution of Blame to Victim and Attitudes toward Partner Violence,” 76–92.

66. Author’s interview with a programme officer of an international Health-care services organisations (Borno; May 26, 2018).

67. See note 53 above. 138.

68. Dombo and Blome, “Vicarious Trauma in Child Welfare Workers”; and Schauden and Franzier, “Vicarious Trauma.”

69. Ibid., 506.

70. Author’s interview with a programme officer of an International Health care and advocacy organisations focused on vulnerable women and survivals of gender base violence (Borno; May 30, 2018).

71. See note 61 above.

72. Author’s interview with an NGO focused on gender-based violence (Borno; June 11, 2018).

73. Author’s interview with a director of an international human rights organisation (Abuja; May 25, 2018).

74. See note 66 above.

75. Ibid.

76. Daloz, “Nigeria: Trust Your Patron, not the Institutions.”

77. McCann and Pearlman, “Vicarious Traumatization,” 139.

78. Nikischer, “Vicarious trauma inside the academe.”

79. See note 61 above.

80. Mama, “Feminism or Femocracy.”

81. Gender Action for Peace and Security, “Prioritise Peace: Challenges Approaches to Preventing and Countering,” 6.

82. See note 11 above.

83. See note 22 above.

84. See note 44 above.

Additional information

Funding

This article was inspired by my experience during my PhD fieldwork sponsored by social science research Council in 2015. Explicitly, a female NGO executive informed me during an interview about the impact of sexual violence in their operations. Hence, part of the funding of this publication on was made possible by support from the Social Science Research Council’s Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa Fellowship, with funds provided by Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Notes on contributors

Emeka Thaddues Njoku

Dr Emeka Thaddues Njoku holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. His research focuses on the intersection of civil society organisations and security governance, particularly post-9/11 international and state level counter-terrorism policies and practices. He was a recipient of the 2014/2015 Doctoral Proposal Development Fellowship and 2015/2016 Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship of the Social Science Research Council (SSRC), and was a 2017 Fellow of the Brown International Advanced Research Institute (BIARI), Brown University, USA. Dr Njoku’s has published in Studies in Conflict and Terrorism and VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations.