Women lead the way to Recovery: Rwanda

By Jamie Van Horne

Blood stained clothes draped over the pews and bullet holes in the walls were a vivid reminder. The church in Nyamata, an ominous memorial of what occurred in 1994, stands to commemorate the 15,000 people who sought refuge in this church only to be executed there during the Rwandan genocide.

Walking down a narrow marble staircase, we were led into a small vault full of glass-encased skulls and bones of the victims. The skulls told the story of how each person was killed – a thin line through the bone represented a machete, a large hole was a club, and a small hole was a bullet. Behind the case of bones was one casket. It held the body of a single unidentified woman whose death was illustrative of the deaths of hundreds of thousands of other woman across the country. She was raped. Many soldiers raped her. She was beaten and she was humiliated. Finally, she was killed. She was killed with a long dull stick that was inserted into her genitals and forced through her entire body until the blade came out of her skull.

When discussing the rape and torture of women in conflict, Rwanda exemplifies one of the most grotesque circumstances in our recent past. Rape and torture of women was a large part of the 1994 Rwanda genocide when nearly 1 million people were killed during a 90-day span. It has been reported that 500,000 women were raped in a public and brutal fashion during the conflict.

Nineteen years later, present day Rwanda is a relatively secure and stable country. It is also a nation that has made enormous strides towards gender equality. Rwanda presents a wonderful opportunity to learn about prevention and protection of women in the many countries where rape and abuse still occur daily.  The success of Rwandans gives faith that if the right path is chosen, change is possible.

Beyond the doors of the church in Nyamata, Rwanda shows little sign of the genocide that left the country in ruins and covered in bodies just a mere 19 years prior. The countryside bustles with workers harvesting crops of coffee, tea, sweet bananas, and mangos. Women and children carry water at their sides, baskets on their heads, and babies on their backs. The capital city of Kigali is lively – full of colors, sounds, and bustling people. Hutu and Tutsi live side by side in the most densely populated country in Africa.  It is an inspiring place, one that represents hard work, forgiveness, and transformation.

How did Rwanda manage to come back from devastation to become a country where gender equality is prioritized and women hold positions of power? The answer, of course, is not simple, but at its core it brings light to some important elements that have surely been the foundation for lasting and instrumental progression.

Responsibility

When the genocide ended in 1994 the living population in Rwanda was 70% female.  The role of women was undeniably important. As household leaders and the working population, women were forced to provide for themselves, and in return they proved that they could provide for their country. Women, by their very nature, were the ones to forge the way for healing, resolution, and peace. They were responsible for caring for survivors and orphans, working together to drive forgiveness, and rebuilding families and homes.

Political Presence

Women, who suffered the greatest and bore the worst of the genocide, were also given more official roles during the nation’s recovery.  As a powerful and influential leader, Paul Kagame emerged to take control of the country immediately following the end of the genocide. With the backing and support of Kagame and other male political leaders, Rwanda’s women emerged as more powerful and important than ever before. A quota system was put in place to ensure women’s role in government and today Rwanda has the highest percentage of women in government of any country in the world with 56%.  Additionally, women’s organizations also provided networks of mutual support that gave confidence, economic independence and control to all, including women in rural areas of the countryside.

Recipients of International Aid

In addition to the support of the government, women were aided by the financial support of the international community. After the events of 1994, international organizations, namely the United Nations, were blamed for turning their backs on a very public and inevitable genocide. Instead of providing peacekeeping troops when tension mounted in Rwanda, the UN backed out completely. In the aftermath, large sums of money were sent to Rwanda to aid recovery. Much of this money went to the rebuilding of the agricultural sector, of which women produce about 70% of the output. Additional funding helped to improve education and infrastructure, both important factors in the recovery process for women and men alike.

Women have been essential to the rebuilding of Rwanda. The country’s current stability is largely due to the Rwandan women’s responsibility for recovery and production in the years since the genocide, their voices in the government, and their control of international aid.  For countries where women still suffer daily from rape and violence, Rwanda is a reminder that when women are empowered, change is possible.

For more information on the International Campaign to Stop Gender Violence & Rape please visit http://www.stoprapeinconflict.org/

Jamie Van Horne works for SeeYourImpact.org, a revolutionary nonprofit dedicated to serving those in need. She holds an M.A. in International Relations from IE Business School and a B.A. in Psychology from Yale University. She resides in Seattle, WA, USA.