ABSTRACT
Many women rescuers vividly recalled the rhetoric found in print, on the radio, and expressed in the marketplace leading up to and during the genocide. These women rescuers showed bravery and a tenacity against societal pressures and constructs that sanctioned violence. Women rescuers also displayed a sense of individualism and independent thought. Their complicated stories include their motivations for rescue, the risks they undertook, their successes, and their failed attempts to save lives. Rescue carried dangerous consequences for those who dared to defy the extremists. A number of women attempted to rescue but were unsuccessful. When the genocide reached the western region of Rwanda, Beth, a Tutsi woman married to a Hutu man, became both a rescuer and a survivor. Just as the diverging experiences of women rescuers are of primary importance, so are their many motivations. Among the host of motivations, religion emerges as a primary catalyst for many rescuers.
