Rape as a Weapon(Research Paper)
Rape in Rwanda
By: Taylor Smith
May 8th 2013
A-1
When was a time you felt threatened by someone who you feared? Most people who were threatened would tell an authority figure, try to avoid the person or try to stop this mistreatment. This happens to many women around the world each year. During the 1994 Rwandan genocide, more than 250,000 women and young girls were raped, tortured or killed because of their gender and inability to fight back, which led to the out break of AIDS/HIV and the fear in women around the nation. What causes people to hurt or even sexual abuse someone at a vulnerable time? In 1994 many women feared for their lives as the genocide and slaughter ran through three villages in Rwanda. In 1997 a trial was held for a women who experienced the effects of this genocide. For her safety the victim’s name was kept form the public so she will be referred to as the “victim” or the “women”. In the summer of 1994, the victim had to hide in a tree for several days to escape the slaughter in her village. She only came down at night in search for food. It was then she found her mother, brothers, sisters, and children dead and thrown into a latrine pit. Her father was killed right below the tree she was hiding in. She stayed hidden in the tree until she found it safe to leave, it was then that she found her six-year-old daughter. They started to flee the area; it was not long until they were caught. Her six-year-old daughter was ganged-raped by three men they knew (Goodwin Rwanda: justice denied). This is one of the thousands of brutal rapes that happened during the Rwandan genocide.
To understand why these women were treated this way you first need to know the background off the genocide. The Rwandan genocide was caused by a power struggle between the two dominant tribes in both Rwanda and Burundi. The Hutu and the Tutsi. They had been massacring each other in those two countries for decades after independence and a civil war between the two groups
By: Taylor Smith
May 8th 2013
A-1
When was a time you felt threatened by someone who you feared? Most people who were threatened would tell an authority figure, try to avoid the person or try to stop this mistreatment. This happens to many women around the world each year. During the 1994 Rwandan genocide, more than 250,000 women and young girls were raped, tortured or killed because of their gender and inability to fight back, which led to the out break of AIDS/HIV and the fear in women around the nation. What causes people to hurt or even sexual abuse someone at a vulnerable time? In 1994 many women feared for their lives as the genocide and slaughter ran through three villages in Rwanda. In 1997 a trial was held for a women who experienced the effects of this genocide. For her safety the victim’s name was kept form the public so she will be referred to as the “victim” or the “women”. In the summer of 1994, the victim had to hide in a tree for several days to escape the slaughter in her village. She only came down at night in search for food. It was then she found her mother, brothers, sisters, and children dead and thrown into a latrine pit. Her father was killed right below the tree she was hiding in. She stayed hidden in the tree until she found it safe to leave, it was then that she found her six-year-old daughter. They started to flee the area; it was not long until they were caught. Her six-year-old daughter was ganged-raped by three men they knew (Goodwin Rwanda: justice denied). This is one of the thousands of brutal rapes that happened during the Rwandan genocide.
To understand why these women were treated this way you first need to know the background off the genocide. The Rwandan genocide was caused by a power struggle between the two dominant tribes in both Rwanda and Burundi. The Hutu and the Tutsi. They had been massacring each other in those two countries for decades after independence and a civil war between the two groups
Cited: Askin, Kelly. "Crimes against Women under International Law." Berkeley Journal of International Law, 2003. Web.