Dr. Zermarie Deacon

University of Oklahoma

Bio

Dr. Zermarie Deacon is an Associate Professor of Human Relations at the University of Oklahoma and an affiliate of its Center for Peace and Development. She researches gender-based violence, peacebuilding, and feminist methodology in post-conflict settings. Her work with grassroots women's organizations in northern Uganda examines how women analyze and respond to war’s legacies. A former Fulbright student fellow, she will teach at Fourah Bay College, Sierra Leone, as a Fulbright Scholar in 2027.

Beyond Survival: Women’s Demands for Structural Change in Northern Uganda

Abstract

Using documents from four women-led Grassroots Women's Peace Conferences held in northern Uganda between 2018 and 2024, this paper examines how women analyze the compounded legacies of war, gender-based violence, Covid-19, and climate change. Participants traced violence and exclusion to disrupted gender roles, son preference, and land dispossession, and demanded family, community, and government-level change. Their analysis suggests that post conflict recovery requires cultural as well as structural transformation and sustained support for women-led spaces.