Rape as a Weapon
The campaign of genocide saw widespread use of rape as a weapon, in a deliberate strategy to destroy the fundamental fabric of interpersonal relations in the community and to shatter the sense of security and identity of the victims. Rwandan women and girls not only witnessed the torture and killing of their families and the destruction of their homes, they were also subjected to brutal forms of sexual violence.
Those who escaped murder were subjected to rape, gang rape, rape with objects such as sharpened sticks or gun barrels, and sexual mutilation. Many died as a result of their abuse. Women in late-stage pregnancies and those who had recently given birth were not exempt from rape: the attackers were indiscriminate. Most of the survivors bear machete wounds and mental as well as physical scars. Not only do they have to cope with the trauma of being so abused; their distress is compounded by the social isolation that follows.
There is evidence that rape was implemented as a state policy as part of
the wider genocide plan. The acts of rape and brutal sexual violence remained untold and unpunished until the 1998 landmark decision by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Arusha, Tanzania, which convicted Jean-Paul Akayesu, the former mayor of Taba, of genocide, crimes against humanity, rape and encouraging sexual violence.
For the first time an international court found rape to be an act of genocide when it is committed with the intention of destroying a particular group. Akayesu is now serving a life sentence in Arusha prison, where he receives therapy and health care, while his victims are dying of AIDS with no support or means to cater for their families. The rapists who deliberately infected women and girls with HIV get free medication and HIV drugs, while their victims die with no money even to buy coffins.
Surviving women have testified that almost all the rapes occurred after the victims had been forced to watch their entire families cut down. 'You alone are being allowed to live,' women were frequently told, 'so that you will die of sadness.' An additional cause of death was thebotched and primitive abortions Rwandan women resorted to when they learned they had been made pregnant by the enemy. In Rwanda, a predominantly Catholic country, abortion is illegal. Those who had children from their abusers call them 'children of fate' or 'children of bad memories'.
Ten years on, the legacy of genocide continues to haunt the survivors who are struggling to restart their lives. Survivors Fund is seeking support to address the challenge of survival in a community where survivors have not yet dealt with the trauma and atrocities experienced during the genocide, yet have to live with stigma and discrimination because they are HIV positive.
To learn more about how you can get involved in helping those suffering from HIV/AIDS receive medical treatment, please click on the Help Treat HIV/AIDS link under the Get Involved section of this website.