ABSTRACT
Introduction The targeting of women during the Rwandan genocide and the critical role that they played in the immediate aftermath both justify and validate the intended purpose of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSCR 1325). The 1990-1994 civil war, which left the population of Rwanda with a 70 per cent female majority,1 catapulted women and girls into new roles during the process of rebuilding the country and effecting a lasting peace. While UNSCR 1325 was not created until October 2000, six years after the Rwandan genocide, the way in which women’s roles had been radically transformed during that time is crucial for understanding why it is needed and how best to implement it. The Rwandan genocide was highly gender focused in that women, both Hutu and Tutsi, were targeted as a group of their own. Ostensibly the conflict stemmed from ethnic tensions between Hutus and Tutsis, but in actuality it was a societal power struggle in which influential women were targeted by Hutu extremists who perceived them as a threat. The consequent infringement of women’s security was extreme and manifested itself in gender-based violence (GBV), particularly rape. With men conspicuously absent in the aftermath of the genocide, women in Rwanda have gained higher status in both the formal and informal spheres in society. They have become peacebuilders, government officials, ‘heads of households, community leaders and financial providers’, all of which were previously considered masculine roles.2 While this development is consistent with the objectives of UNSCR 1325, it actually arose from necessity, rather than in response to progressive peacebuilding processes under an UNSCR 1325 framework. Instead, the inefficacy of the peacekeeping efforts in Rwanda to manage the violent conflict unleashed on its population led to a process of negotiating gender roles. This contributed to changes in women’s socially understood responsibilities as they were forced to rebuild their lives and communities with very little support. The experiences of Rwandan women during and after the conflict demonstrate the relevance of UNSCR 1325 and illustrate its functionality, respectively. The
emphasis of brutality on women during the conflict could arguably have been ameliorated by the gender-sensitive conflict management processes as recommended by the Resolution, if it had been in place. In fact, the inadequacy of the efforts of the international community to support the Rwandan population, and especially women, during the genocide is a critical justification for the need for UNSCR 1325. Moreover, the success of Rwanda’s post-conflict reconstruction, which was driven by women (albeit by necessity), demonstrates the importance of their involvement in the process. Understanding how Rwanda’s reconstruction developed ‘naturally’ can provide a model for implementing UNSCR 1325 in other countries. Furthermore, in spite of being six years too late for Rwanda, UNSCR 1325 still has much to offer the country’s continuing process of reconstruction and recovery. This chapter examines the Rwandan case study by considering the idea of security as a gendered concept and by applying this idea to women’s roles and security in Rwanda before and after the genocide. The chapter also explores the involvement of the international community in the Rwandan genocide of 1994 and its aftermath and, within this context, compares the development of postconflict reconstruction and peacebuilding in Rwanda with the prescriptions of UNSCR 1325 by focusing specifically on the articles that refer to peacekeeping, peacebuilding and the protection and care of women and girls during and after armed conflict.
