Researchers at McGill University worked with a group of women who were abducted by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) during the Uganda war. The purpose of the study is to compare their situations during the battle and their lives after it. Sadly, a lot of them considered the war to be better than peace, but they have no plans on giving up the fight for real freedom.

First, LRA is a known rebel group led by Joseph Kony during the civil war in Northern Uganda. The bloody years took place between 1986 and 2007. Now, the respondents used in the research were interviewed when they were aged between 12 and 19. A lot of them grew up in captivity.

According to McGill, the experts partnered with Watye Ki Gen questioned a total of 60 children. The majority of these people have stayed in prison for up to seven years after being born. Per the same source, the researchers supplemented the interviews with arts-based psychological workshops.

Surprisingly, when the participants were asked to draw their families before and after the war, the sad faces were seen on the post-war outputs. The experts were truly shocked and puzzled so they decided to ask the children directly. Apparently, the respondents revealed that their lives were actually better during the war in many ways.

Per Science Daily, the study found out that the drawings were the results of multiple forms of "violence, stigma, rejection, social exclusion, and socio-economic marginalization." Sadly, the people who survived the war had to face tougher challenges after it. Lead author Myriam Denov from McGill University explained in the study that the victims of war see violence, terror, and starvation as easier challenges compared to the moral abuse they are experiencing now.

Additionally, these people have seen a "greater sense of family" during the hard times. Unfortunately, the war victims experience abuse from their own uncles nowadays. For one, their family members do not want "Kony" children at home. The youths stressed that they need a livelihood, psychological support, and community sensitization.

Topics McGill University, Discrimination, Abuse