Asserting Their Presence! Women’s Quest for Transitional Justice in Post-Genocide Rwanda

Abstract

Following the Rwandan genocide, which took place between April and July 1994, the country hosted a wide range of transitional justice mechanisms to deal with the atrocities including judicial measures such as national trials, and the gacaca tribunals which sought to render justice on a local level. The genocide claimed between 500,000 and 1 million lives of Tutsi and moderate Hutu, and it was highly gendered with 250,000 women raped, 60 per cent widowed, and many more displaced (Twagiramariya and Turshen, 1998: 102). Dealing with its aftermath remains a serious challenge on all levels.