Copyright of Disasters is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Jones, Briony, Ott, Lisa, Rauschenbach, Mina, and Sanchez, Camilo
Subjects
DISAPPEARED persons, WAR, HUMAN rights violations, PROCEDURAL justice, PARTICIPATION
Abstract
Enforced disappearance is a human rights violation and crime widely used in repression and armed conflict contexts. The families of the forcibly disappeared are left in a state of ambiguous loss as they search for the disappeared to satisfy their right to truth and achieve healing and closure. However, there is limited knowledge of the obstacles that hinder the search in practice and of how families can best be supported when mobilizing in search processes. Taking a multi-disciplinary approach, using insights from procedural justice research and qualitative interviews undertaken with families and other actors involved in supporting search processes in Colombia and El Salvador, we enhance and expand the scholarship that acknowledges the importance of victim participation and victims as key justice stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]