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The Female Refugee Experience in Central Ohio

How a mother and daughter survived the pain of rape and genocide.

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Rwandan Women
During the 1994 genocide, women experienced horrific acts of violence.
Many Tutsi women were killed, raped, and forced to witness the murder of their children. The psychological wounds from these events are deep-seeded and difficult to overcome. Watch the following video to learn about the story of one woman who became pregnant and HIV positive after she was raped in 1994.

Rwandan women showcased immense strength after the genocide. They had to; according to NPR the population became 70% women post-genocide. In the NPR article, "It's The No. 1 Country For Women In Politics — But Not In Daily Life", Gregory Warner writes about the change in population makeup in post-genocide Rwanda.
Records show that immediately following the genocide, Rwanda's population of 5.5 million to 6 million was 60 to 70 percent female. Most of these women had never been educated or raised with the expectations of a career. In pre-genocide Rwanda, it was almost unheard of for women to own land or take a job outside the home.

The genocide changed all that. The war led to Rwanda's "Rosie the Riveter" moment: It opened the workplace to Rwandan women just as World War II had opened it to American women.
Just because the workplace opened up, that did not mean society accepted this change. President Kagame was the main advocate for the inclusion of women, especially in politics. The feminist movement in Rwanda came from the top down; government policy tried to shift the public's opinion on the subject. This was unusual, as feminist movements generally start at the grassroots level, gain public support, then enact change on the legislative level. As a result, women gained power and were celebrated publicly. However, this newfound respect did not carry over to their private lives, as they were still expected to take care of their husband's needs, raise children, and complete all the household chores.

Though there are still issues regarding women's rights, their inclusion in the workplace and government has come with many benefits. National Geographic's Rama Abouzeid writes about the advancement of Rwandan women post-genocide in her article, "Remaking Rwanda: Tragedy and necessity have created opportunities that seemed unimaginable. The challenge now: to make them last". She writes:
In 1999, overturning tradition, women officially were allowed to inherit property in the absence of a will, making landowners of rural daughters who'd been disenfranchised in favor of their brothers. Other reforms enabled women to use their land as collateral to obtain loans. Women were granted the right to open bank accounts without their husband's permission, further encouraging financial independence. Girls' education was prioritized through efforts that allowed more of them to attend college, and incentives were created for girls to study traditionally male-dominated subjects.

Rwanda has moved from a nation that treated women like property, whose chief function was to have children, to one that
constitutionally mandates that at least 30 percent of government positions are occupied by women. Since 2003 Rwanda has consistently had the highest female representation, proportionally, of parliamentarians in the world--currently 61 percent in the lower house. Four of the nation's seven supreme court justices are women, including the deputy chief justice.
Rwandan women also took on the endeavor of reconciliation, which included jail time and community service for perpetrators, support groups, workshops, and memorials. These actions helped Rwanda heal and come together as a country. Hear from a woman about her experience reconciling with her perpetrator in the following clip.
Many children were orphaned by the genocide, and some were adopted and brought to other countries. It was difficult for them to work through the psychological effects of their experiences without the support of other Rwandans. They did not get to benefit from the reconciliation efforts of the Rwandan government. The following clip shares how one woman experienced post-genocide psychological pain outside of Rwanda.
Rwandan References 15 plain 2020-08-23T16:16:19-07:00
Great Sources:
- This is a great documentary that gives an overview of Rwanda's recent history. It showcases the Rwandan government's victories and wrongdoings, particularly in relation to President Kagame.
Warner, Gregory. “It's The No. 1 Country For Women In Politics — But Not In Daily Life.” Npr.org, National Public Radio, 29 July 2016, https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2016/07/29/487360094/invisibilia-no-one-thought-this-all-womans-debate-team-could-crush-it.
- Gregory Warner does a great job exploring contemporary gender roles in Rwanda. He focuses on the elevation of women in public life and the continued discrimination in the home.
- BBC Africa's Victoria Uwonkunda gives a good summation of how and why the genocide occurred.
Additional Resources:

Other Citations:
“Rwanda 2019.” amnesty.org, Amnesty International, https://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/africa/rwanda/report-rwanda/.

“Rwanda: Events of 2019.” hrw.org, Human Rights Watch, https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2020/country-chapters/rwanda.

“Rwanda: A Year On, No Justice for Refugee Killings.” hrw.org, Human Rights Watch, 23 Febuary 2019, https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/02/23/rwanda-year-no-justice-refugee-killings.

“Revisiting Rwanda five years after record-breaking parliamentary elections.” unwomen.org, UN Women, 13 August 2018, https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2018/8/feature-rwanda-women-in-parliament.

Wallace, Claire, et al. “Women in Rwandan Politics and Society.” International Journal of Sociology, vol. 38, no. 4, 2008, pp. 111–125. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/20628350.

“Africa: Rwanda.” The World Factbook, cia.gov, Central Intelligence Agency, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/rw.html.

“Political Map of Rwanda.” nationsonline.org, https://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/map/rwanda_map2.htm.

“Rwanda: In Breif.” fas.org, Congressional Research Service, 14 May 2019, https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R44402.pdf.

United States Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, U.S. Committee for Refugees World Refugee Survey 1999 - Rwanda , 1 January 1999, https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6a8cc38.html

Pereira, Martim Empis Gray and Casilda Gil de Santivanes Finat. “Rwandan Refugees Head Home After a Generation in Angola.” unhcr.org, UNHCR: The UN Refugee Agency, 22 August 2016, https://www.unhcr.org/en-us/news/stories/2016/8/57bad29d4/rwandan-refugees-head-home-generation-angola.html.

“Rwanda: A Year On, No Justice for Refugee Killings.” hrw.org, Human Rights Watch, 23 Feburary 2019, https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/02/23/rwanda-year-no-justice-refugee-killings.

Neiman, Sophie. “Refugees: Rwanda helps hundreds, but thousands more languish in Libya.” africanarguments.org, African Arguments, 7 November 2019, https://africanarguments.org/2019/11/07/refugees-rwanda-hundreds-thousands-languish-libya/.

“Rwanda, Protecting their rights: Rwandese refugees in the Great Lakes region.” amnesty.org, Amnesty International, 2004, https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/92000/afr470162004en.pdf.

“Rwanda: Investigate Killings of Refugees.” amnesty.org, Amnesty International, 2019, https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/AFR4798662019ENGLISH.pdf.

Abouzeid, Rama. "REMAKING RWANDA: Tragedy and necessity have created opportunities that seemed unimaginable. The challenge now: to make them last." National Geographic, vol. 236, no. 5, Nov. 2019, p. 82+. Gale Academic OneFile, https://link-gale-com.proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/apps/doc/A608114654/AONE?u=colu44332&sid=AONE&xid=66e09633.

United States Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, “U.S. Committee for Refugees World Refugee Survey 1999 - Rwanda”, 1 January 1999, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6a8cc38.html.