@article{ref1,
title="Helping or harming? NGOs and victims/-survivors of conflict-related sexual violence in Bosnia-Herzegovina",
journal="Journal of human rights",
year="2019",
author="Clark, Janine Natalya",
volume="18",
number="2",
pages="246-265",
abstract="Drawing on the author's previous and current fieldwork in Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) and interactions with several non-governmental organizations (NGOs), this article asks whether some organizations that seek to help and support victims/-survivors of conflict-related sexual violence are potentially doing more harm than good. In developing this argument, the article's aim is neither to unjustly criticize NGOs nor to trivialize the challenges that victims/-survivors face. What it seeks to demonstrate, however, is that a heavy focus on the thematic of trauma can be counter-productive. Specifically, it critiques trauma as a disempowering, essentializing and collectivizing discourse. Calling for a meta discursive shift away from trauma and towards resilience, it argues that NGOs should give more attention to the families and communities of victims/-survivors. Families and communities, in this regard, constitute potential resilience resources that should be harnessed and strengthened.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1475-4835",
doi="10.1080/14754835.2019.1581055",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14754835.2019.1581055"
}