Alice Umugwaneza (not real name) is a wife and mother. She has three children; one from her previous marriage, one from her present marriage, and another child born of rape, inflicted on her during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

She, like many women that dealt with this infliction, is living with HIV as a result of rape.

The aftermath of all this for the 44-year-old was humiliation, stigma and rejection from her own family and the community in which she lived. Neighbours and family knew her as "the one who was raped” and despised her for keeping the child she conceived through rape.

Many young girls and women were victims of rape during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

As she wipes the tears from her eyes, she reveals that for a long time she lived with this shame and refused to accept the horror that had happened to her. It was easier for her to take in that she was HIV positive than to accept that she had been raped.

Although the exact number of women raped will never be known, Umugwaneza’s testimony is just one of the many stories from survivors that confirm that rape was extremely widespread and that thousands of women were individually raped, gang-raped, or sexually mutilated and heave dealt with its effects, including trauma, sexually transmitted diseases and stigma.

The mass rapes were carried out by the Interahamwe militia and ex-FAR forces. The sexual violence was directed at the national and local levels by political and military leaders in the furtherance of their goal, the destruction of the Tutsi ethnic group.

Women are encouraged to speak up against perpetrators. Courtesy.

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), set up by United Nations Security Council was the first institution to recognise rape as a means of perpetrating genocide.

The ICTR asserts that the use of rape was a weapon of war during the civil conflict, and, because the intent of the mass violence against Rwandan women and children was to destroy, in whole or in part, a particular ethnic group, it was the first time that mass rape during wartime was found to be an act of genocidal rape.

Cognizant of the fact that sexual violence is multi-pronged, and encompasses health, security, violence and social ills like alcohol and prostitution, Honorine Uwababyeyi, an orphan and survivor of the 1994 Genocide, chose to use her psychology degree to reach out to rape victims of the Genocide through counselling and advocating for peace and reconciliation through her organisation ‘Hope and Peace Foundation’.

According to the 34-year-old, the organisation currently has 67 women that have joined, and like Umugwaneza, have sought group psychosocial counselling as well as individual counselling, and have since accepted their situation and resolved stigma issues.

Although not rampant, 25 years later, Rwandan women still face sexual violation, at least according to the few that have boldly come out to speak.

The global #Metoo campaign has had its fair share of the crime exposure, including the fall of many powerful men who include comedian and actor Bill Cosby, who was convicted of three accounts of aggravated indecent assault against a woman, Fox News Executive Bill O’Reilley, and Hollywood Film maker Harvery Weistein.

Is justice served?

Thanks to the campaign for lauding the survivors for their courage to come out and speak boldly against their perpetrators, many Rwandans have come out to speak and shame the perpetrators.

Last year, a victim who was allegedly raped by her employer and could not keep her job had confided in a family member, who - with consent - took to social media in January to demand quick delivery of justice, after the suspected rapist was let free.

Following the controversy sparked on social media, the suspect was re-arrested as the court upheld prosecution’s appeal to serve provisional detention order as investigators establish a substantive case. The case is still in the preliminary stages of gathering evidence.

14-year-old Odile (not real name) found herself at the mercy of a teenage vagabond, who raped her and left her with pregnancy, after years of domestic abuse from her stepfather.

Pregnant, with no permanent place to call home and with a mother who is financially unable – her only option was to abort.

The new penal law, which came into force in August last year, sets out five exemptions under which one can procure legal abortion. Odile fulfils two; she is a child herself, and the pregnancy is as a result of rape.

She however, cannot procure the abortion because there is no ministerial order to guide these exemptions. With the pregnancy already in its fifth month, an abortion is no longer tenable.

Justice Minister and Attorney General Johnston Busingye, speaking during a recent press conference, announced that the ministerial order that will actualise the provisions on abortion under the penal code is about to be published.

The rate of conviction is of course high, according to statistics from office of the Prosecutor General, with the conviction rate of cases related to sexual and gender-based violence being at 90 per cent.

The office however has cited the biggest challenge to deal with as encouraging victims to bring cases of abuse forward and supporting them.

Tips to overcoming trauma

Activists have come out over the past few years, emphasizing the importance of speaking out in the hope of preventing it happening again, and encouraging society to believe women and girls.

However women still grapple with the courage to speak out, Counsellor Joyce Kirabo advises that it is important for victims to first seek professional counselling as soon as possible, as often times victims are not comfortable to share their stories for fear of stigma.

"Rape or sexual assault can cause trauma as well as health complications and may often times lead to bad decisions by the victim, such as alcoholism as a way of dealing with the trauma. Also it is a sensitive subject that requires handing with care, which is why it is important to seek professional counselling after all the health tests are done,” she says.

For Uwababyeyi, she advises victims to confide in someone they trust as well as join support groups to help lift the burden off their chest.

"Victims in most cases live in denial which at some point catches up with them. The first step should be accepting what happened and then seek help. Talking and listening to other testimonies has proven to be helpful and so if a woman finds themselves in such situations they shouldn’t keep it to themselves. There is help out there,” she says.

John Muganda an obstetrician gynaecologist says that justice for a victim is served when the criminal is put to book although it is also important to gather enough evidence by not washing their clothes and not bathing and that the matter should immediately be reported to One Stop Centres that are all over the country.

At arrival, doctors will verify trauma, take a sample of the discharge for any STDs and sperms and also prescribe PEP drugs to abort an HIV infection in case of an exposure. Counselling is also important although the family should keep the matter confidential, unless the victim is willing to speak out, as society is notorious for branding survivors of rape, and promoting stigma, he says.

THEIR VIEWS

What can be done to support rape survivors?

Ritah Nandi, marketing personnel

Rogers Kabera, social worker

Cynthia Mukansuro, business lady

Michael Kwizera, student

editor@newtimesrwanda.com