Citation

Barakat KS, Philippot P. Gend. Issues 2024; 41(1): e2.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2024, Springer)

DOI

10.1007/s12147-024-09321-z

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This paper investigates how the socio-political context shapes women's exposure to traumas and influences women's perceptions of and responses to these traumas. Narratives of five Egyptian trauma survivors were examined to explain the modes of victimization of, and resistance by these women in the context of Egypt post-2011 revolution. The paper focuses on sexual and political violence as two forms of gendered traumas that are tightly connected to socio-political changes after the 2011 revolution and the following military coup of 2013. Applying the interpretative phenomenological analysis and employing a feminist contextual lens, five themes emerged highlighting (a) the survivors' gendered readings of the context in which their traumas occurred, (b) how the construction of stereotypical femininities and masculinities shaped the five women's exposure and response to trauma, (c) their everyday practices of resistance, (d) their actions of resistance during the traumatic events, (e) and finally their sense of victimization versus sense of agency. The analysis underlines the necessity for women's experiences of traumas to be read as manifestations of the wider gendered context and to be considered through a sociopolitical lens. As the paper captures contextual factors that contribute to the differences and similarities in the five women's experiences, it challenges the traditional psycho-medical understanding of trauma and suggests different premises for trauma interventions.

Language: en

Keywords

Political Violence; Sexual Violence; Victimization; Women’s Resistance; Women’s Trauma