APCJ_1528_Win2010_00i_122_4 12/30/10 3:22 PM Page 86 86 AFRICA PEACE AND CONFLICT JOURNAL mote justice, peace, forgiveness, reconciliation, and recognition.38 One section of the national accord that brought about a PNU-ODM national unity government in 2008 outlines actions needed on the way to national cohesion—structural, constitutional, and institutional reforms involving the judiciary, police force, civil service, parliament, regional government, transparency and accountability, and land policies, along with addressing poverty and inequality. It identifies youths as threats to tranquility if not utilized as a positive resource and suggests strategies for reducing high levels of youth unemployment, presenting an opportunity for the country to deal with the issues and challenges its young people face.39 Role of Female Youths Some argue that women perceive and understand violence through a lens different from those of males. According to one theory, women view the world as ‘a web of relationships in which individuals can be identified by the nature of these relationships. Their concerns with relationships are the basis of their nurturing role, their passion for affirming life, and their opposition to war. . . . [M]en tend to have . . . an “ethic of justice” which proceeds from the premise of equality—that everyone should be treated the same. Women, on the other hand, are more likely to have an “ethic of care”, which rests on the premise of non-violence—that no one should be hurt’.40 This argument is founded on the premise that traditionally women’s roles have revolved around cultural ideas about their feminine psyches, that is, their supposedly inherent traits (or nature), sexuality, and fertility. This has led to assertions that they are predisposed to peacemaking and resist institutionalizing violence. Cases have been documented, however, where women have been actively engaged in war or violence as combatants, taking on so-called male roles. Elizabeth Ferris cites wars in Angola, Namibia, and Eritrea as instances where women have been involved in active combat.41 There are also situations in which women might impart approval of a culture of violence to their children, such as when they glorify violence by men through war songs, express an expectation that their children might someday participate in war or other violence, or approve of crime as an option for helping alleviate poverty for the family. According to 37 percent of respondents, women at the forefront in some of the incidents during the post-election violence acted as opinion shapers at the grassroots by peddling information against ‘enemy’ communities that was not necessarily true but promoted their agenda. This helped create an environment for violence through mockery and incitement. The wives and girlfriends of gang leaders were said to have set high expectations and made demands of their male partners, because they saw the situation as an economic opportunity for them, for instance, to become beneficiaries of booty in the form of clothes, money, and household goods. 38. John Paul Lederach, The Little Book of Conflict Transformation (Intercourse, Pennsylvania, Good Books, 2003). 39. Kenya National Dialogue and Reconciliation, ‘Agenda item 4: Long-term issues and solutions’, Nairobi, 30 July 2008, www.dialoguekenya.org/docs/S_of_P_with_Matrix.pdf. 40. The view of Elizabeth Ferris as presented in Aruna Gnanadason, Lucia Ann McSpadden, and Musimbi Kanyoro (eds.), Women, Violence and Nonviolent Change (Geneva, WCC Publications, 1996), 3–7. 41. Ibid.