APCJ_1528_Win2010_00i_122_4 12/30/10 3:22 PM Page 11 Integrating Principles and Practices in Somaliland 11 bring about a ‘cease-fire’; it is not sufficiently analytical, however, to address the root causes or structural issues that might prevent future conflicts.44 Women in Somaliland have different perspectives than men, as well as among themselves, about customary law and how it resolves conflicts. Some would agree with the exchange of young women for marriage across clans to cement settlements reached by the elders. Others are critical of elders who determine that an exchange of girls and boys from each side of a conflict will prevent its further escalation or that conflict is preventable by integrating clans through arranged marriages. From a structural perspective, customary law, alongside elements of civil and sharia law, has negatively affected women’s status in society since it gives men more power in the areas of marriage and divorce, the custody of children, and property ownership. It has also subjected them to psychological harm and ‘domestic violence, female genital cutting and other forms of violence sanctioned by societal norms and practices’.45 Furthermore, customary practices prevent women from participating in local and national conflict resolution processes though they were critical to the peace efforts of the 1990s, providing food for the peace conferences and letting their opinions be known about the direction of the talks through private conversations and demonstrations.46 Conflict Transformation Customary law’s weaknesses are significant, but so are its strengths. To acknowledge the former and bolster the latter will help address Somaliland’s current and future conflicts. As Somalis say, ‘[C]ustomary law is peace’, which means that ‘when it is adhered to, it brings about peace’.47 Adhering to its constructive principles and practices of honesty, nonviolence, trust building, flexibility, and culturally relevant methods of mediation, conflicts can be resolved in the short term and relative peace achieved. As noted earlier, however, this level of peace is often broken because the conflict resolution process may not always fully address the underlying causes of the conflict (or crime). Research suggests that with deeper analysis and more strategic peacebuilding procedures, Somaliland’s conflicts—property- and water-based as well as violent conflicts related to cross-clan killing or broader wars—may be transformed and greater conflict prevention realized. Conflict transformation is concerned with meeting the interests and needs of individuals and groups based on analysis involving the historical, political, economic, socio-relational, and psychological aspects of the conflict. It uses principles and practices that stem from a cultural and contextual understanding of the involved parties. 44. Interview, Mohammed Hassan, lead researcher, Academy for Peace and Development, Hargeisa, 24 March 2008. Some argue that elders do seek to determine ‘root causes’ in order to render the most effective resolutions. This tension needs further exploration within the customary law–conflict transformation nexus to clarify what is meant by ‘root causes’. 45. ‘Women’s Right[s] and Justice’, Lammaane, 1:2 (December 2007), 2. 46. Nagaad, ‘Overcoming patriarchy’s challenges: Promoting women’s political participation’, bi-annual report, 2005/2006. 47. M. Mohamed, ‘The role of Somali women in the search for peace’ in Women and Peace in Africa: Case Studies on Traditional Conflict Resolution Practice (Paris, UNESCO, 2003), http://unesdoc.unesco.org /images/0013/001332/133274e.pdf.