An intersectional approach to the understanding of patterns of marginalisation among ex-combatants with disabilities in Sri Lanka

Abstract

ABSTRACT Based on 30 life history interviews with former members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), this article analyses the particular challenges ex-combatants with disabilities face when returning to civilian lives. Moreover, it uses an intersectional approach to explore how disability intersects with gender and geographic location to generate specific patterns of marginalisation for different groups of disabled ex-combatants. Findings demonstrate the lack of attention paid to the specific needs of disabled ex-combatants by post-conflict policies which, combined with cumbersome procedures and favouritism in the selection of beneficiaries, have left ex-combatants dependent on family networks for livelihood assistance. This dependency exacerbates prejudices against and the social isolation of disabled ex-combatants and detrimentally affects their self-esteem. Furthermore, the article shows how disability and gender intersect to generate additional forms of discrimination resulting from increased social stigma, patriarchal attitudes and the exposure to different forms of abuse, as well as how differences in terms of communal support network, the density of ex-combatant populations and political attitudes generate spatial variation in patterns of social and economic marginalisation.