Fighting violence against women in postcolonial Bolivia. A field study examining the collaboration between the local and international in Bolivia

This thesis examines to what extent local and international organizations cooperate to combat violence against women (VAW) in Bolivia. The theoretical framework is based on postcolonial feminism, examining previous work focusing on VAW, (feminist) transnational advocacy networks and norm diffusion. These concepts are examined in the empirical case of postcolonial Bolivia which has the highest levels of VAW in South America (UN Women 2016:4). VAW is a global problem following distinct patterns that have been observed globally in several scientific works (UN 2006). Research on women’s transnational advocacy as a response to VAW is critical to IR as it ties in with the human security concept and transnational political agenda. This thesis uses a mixed methodology, looking quantitatively at the levels of current cooperation, while also gathering data through a content analysis of 105 articles from the Bolivian newspaper El Diario (published between July 2014 and March 2018) and interviews conducted in the field during April 2018 after a pilot study conducted in March 2018 in La Paz, Bolivia. The findings indicate that financial incentives are the most important reason for cooperation. Changes in the gender norm regime in Bolivia are ongoing and influences are flowing in multiple directions. The research found a complicated relationship between the current narrative of decolonization and women’s security and autonomy within the postcolonial setting of Bolivia