Rejecting sexual violence as a weapon of war: 24th Commemoration of the Rwandan genocide

The month of April marks the 24th remembrance of the genocide in Rwanda during which an estimated 800.000 Rwandans were brutally killed within a time span of just 100 days, starting on the 6th of April in 1994. Soon after the genocide, it had become increasingly clear that sexual violence had played a major factor during the mass murder and was used as a weapon of war.

The International Crinimal Tribunal for Rwanda was set up in 1994, followed by intense campaigning to raise awarness of gendered violence by a number of non-governmental organisations. A group of young international lawyers, activists and Rwandan women came together to play a crucial role in the international struggle against successful recognition and prosecution of sexual violence as a weapon of war. In 1998, judges of the Rwanda Tribunal gave an important verdict, which for the first time found a suspect guilty of using sexual violence as a weapon of war during a genocide: the mayor Jean-Paul Akayesu. This went down in history as a landmark ruling.

Gender Concerns International, with its extensive experience and expertise in supporting both women and development and as the pioneer in the field of women’s political participation with its unique Gender Election Observation (GEOM) supports the vision for a women-integrated electoral and policy-making process in Rwanda. The GEOM programme addresses women’s democratic participation before, during and after elections as voters, candidates and electoral officials, guaranteeing that the post-election period will be inclusive of women and girls which could prove to be instrumental in the upcoming election period in Rwanda.

Image: A still from the documentary The Uncondemned