Children Born of War
A European Research Network Exploring the Life Histories of a Hidden Population
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Abstract
Through the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program, the research and training network Children Born of War (CHIBOW) seeks to explore the lives of children born to local mothers and fathered by enemy soldiers, occupying forces, and locally stationed and peacekeeping forces during conflicts of the past one hundred years. Born both through mutually consenting “love relationships” and from rape, children born of war are a hidden population, relatively understudied and seldom spoken about in public spheres. Fifteen early career researchers at eleven academic institutes across Europe will address this topic from a multidisciplinary perspective. This training network will act as a platform to share the life stories of people affected by war in the most profound ways and to alleviate some of the silence surrounding their experiences.
Contributor Notes
Kimberley Anderson is a PhD student of the clinical facility Psychotraumacentrum Zuid Nederland, Reinier van Arkel Group, the Netherlands. She is currently working with refugee and asylum-seeker mothers in the Netherlands who have children born of sexual violence. Her research focuses on present-day conflicts across the world and the added burden of migration and asylum. With the results of her work within CHIBOW, Anderson hopes to improve the standard of care for these women and children by addressing their complex dyadic needs. She holds a Master of Science in Child and Adolescent Mental Health from University College London. Email: k.anderson@reiniervanarkel.nl
Sophie Roupetz is a PhD student in the Department of Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology at the University of Leipzig, Germany. Her project considers the psychological impact of growing up as an occupation child born of rape after World War II, in Germany and Austria. She hopes the results from her study will better support and integrate CBOW worldwide into postconflict societies. She is also involved in a project on child marriage among Syrian refugees in Lebanon, and supports an NGO in northern Uganda helping those affected by violence. She holds a Master of Science in Psychology from the University of Vienna and is a trained clinical and health psychologist. Email: Sophie.Roupetz@medizin.uni-leipzig.de