On February 4th from 3:30-5PM I attended a lecture on “What Does a Feminist Peace Look Like?: Columbia’s Struggles Over the World’s Most Inclusive Peace Accord” for my extra non-IA scholars event. This lecture was given by Sara Koopman in room 014 in the Psychology Building. Sara Koopman focused her presentation on the Colombian War, its effect on already disadvantaged groups, and the steps taken to forge peace. Her presentation also included a focus on how the struggle over land impacted this war. Land was taken from the indigenous and poor in Columbia forcing them to flee further into remote areas with little access to the government. This made them easy to take advantage of by criminal actors looking for cheap labor to grow the crop used to make Cocaine. Koopman related this to the history of the land we were sitting on in the Psychology building. She acknowledged the violence committed to steal this land from the indigenous people of America.
The Columbian war has had horrifying effects on the people of Columbia. The amount of people displaced, violently attacked, disappeared, and killed is estimated by the government to be in the millions. Koopman explained this number is not an accurate reflection of the circumstances. Many people were afraid, intimidated, or ignored when reporting the crimes committed against them and their families. As a result, the majority of crimes went unreported. She also explained that disadvantaged groups like women, indigenous people, and the LGBTQI community were disproportionately affected, they bore the brunt of the war. Ninety percent of those disappeared and killed were men. This left women to pick up their families’ lives, find safety, and come up with a way to support themselves. In Koopman’s opinion this was the most difficult aspect of the war to cope with. This war has been long lasting and has been fought by many different actors. Control over land and drugs has influenced the greater part of the violence.
I found this lecture extremely interesting and informative. The topic directly connects to what I am passionate about and it encompasses material covered by previous courses I have taken. Peace resolution studies is an undervalued field with a large impact on conflicts around the world. Koopman addressed the importance of negotiations for peace and why it was crucial that these negotiations included disadvantaged groups when creating resolutions. I am interested in pursuing a line of work that allows me to aid in this task of building peace, especially for those who have typically been left out of the solutions. One person I have discussed my interest with and the implications Peace Studies can have on my academics and career is Teri Murphy, the Peace Studies Coordinator at OSU. She also attended this event. Previously, I have had a discussion with her about how I can use Arabic and a law degree in this line of work. She gave me a lot of applicable advice including how to get useful experience.