Gender Justice and Reconciliation

Justice, truth, reconciliation and guarantees of non-repetition for victims in the wake of conflict are just some of the core goals pursued by societies through the employment of transitional justice mechanisms. None of these goals however are attainable in a context of exclusion and inequality - as inequality, an injustice in itself, is also a causal factor of conflict. Violence thrives in societies entrenched in hierarchical structures and relations: and no inequality is more pervasive, both vertically and horizontally across the globe than gender inequality.

It is generally accepted that because of gendered power relations, it is women who pay the disproportionate cost of war. This is not to further entrench the stereotype of women's identities in conflict as that of the ‘perpetual victim' – powerless and acted upon – but rather to acknowledge that women's experiences of both conflicts as well as transitions differ because of power relations, and that these experiences and accompanying needs for justice have largely been ignored.

The myriad ways in which gender, power and violence intersect during both conflict and transition can be illustrated by the example of Rwanda. During the genocide, mass rape was utilized as a deliberate strategy of the Interahamwe. Beyond the trauma of the actual violation(s), the ongoing consequences for women have included high levels of HIV infection in a context of limited or no access to medical facilities and the responsibility for children born as a result. When the violence receded, most men had either been killed, fled to nearby countries, or were in prison, leaving a national population that was 70% female. Women assumed the position of head of household; daily managing the impact of their own experiences whilst also shouldering the responsibility to ensure the economic survival of those who remained and the reconstruction of communities and social relations. This situation was compounded by pre-existing gender norms; including cultural values which ascribed the stigma of sexual violence to the victim and a legal system which forced women to be dependent upon surviving – and sometimes distant –male relatives as a result of an inability to inherit.

Whatever the context, causes or nature of a conflict, all have in common that they are impacted by, and in turn impact upon, gendered power relations. Periods of conflict and post-conflict reconstruction destabilize gender identities and assumptions – during conflict women often assume positions that would have been unacceptable pre-conflict either by joining one of the fighting parties, assuming the position of head of a household, or occupying positions in the public sphere or other spaces that were previously the exclusive domain of men and post-conflict reconstruction destabilize gender identities.

These shifts in roles and identities can provide a double-edged sword, whereby conflict has an enormous and devastating impact on women's lives, but can also open new spaces, and challenges, for transformation. As conflict is brought to an end and peace agreements negotiated, societies are faced with the task of reconstructing not only their physical infrastructure, but social infrastructure—including relationships to each other, and between citizens and the state.

Much has been made in feminist literature of the importance of this post-war moment for transforming unequal power relations and furthering gender justice. However it has also been noted that this moment is fleeting; and few, if any, examples can be pointed to where the gains that were made during this period were successfully consolidated and manifested in sustained gender equality and a transformed society.

In part this inability to harness the potentially transformative moment is a result of the demand during post-conflict situations that ‘women' and ‘gender' be placed on the back burner for later as priority is once more placed on other issues. Equally detrimental is that peace negotiations often downplay issues of justice in an effort to consolidate a peace which is defined narrowly as a silencing of the guns. Where justice issues are addressed, ‘justice' is similarly narrowly defined and does not encompass transformative justice or challenge fundamentally unjust power relations within society; power relations that are often at the heart of the conflict itself.

It is during this moment of flux that transitional justice mechanisms are negotiated and established, with the express mandate to deal with past violations and contribute towards a blueprint for a new society based on principles of justice and equitable relations; and in doing so, ensure that the atrocities of the past will ‘never again' occur.

These objectives of transitional justice mechanisms as well as the space they occupy during the transition pose challenges as well as opportunities for the furthering of gender justice. The following paper begins to explore how transitional justice mechanisms can capitalize on the opportunities presented in order to move beyond the reconstruction of pre-war gender relations and instead encourage fundamental transformation of relations and institutions in order to contribute towards comprehensive social justice.