“There are some things that cannot be said”: women and trauma during the Zimbabwean Liberation War, 1966-present

This dissertation explores the experiences of women who faced sexual violence during the Zimbabwean Liberation War of 1966-1980. I look at how women have dealt with the trauma of the liberation war and why government-promoted accounts and well-known stories within communities did not treat their trauma as seriously as that of men after the conflict. I use interviews with war survivors and Jesuit archival sources to explore women’s roles in the conflict and their interactions with various fighting groups, including Rhodesian and guerilla soldiers.

My findings show that the government’s actions and social expectations led to insufficient treatment and misunderstanding of women’s trauma after the conflict. Women often connected their trauma to their spiritual beliefs, which is why they needed cleansing ceremonies for healing. Because of the lack of proper support, many women chose to stay silent about their experiences after the war.

The dissertation adds to the literature highlighting the importance of women’s voices in the history of liberation wars. It calls for more research on trauma that considers people’s spiritual beliefs to understand how different groups cope with the effects of war-related conflict.