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ABSTRACT
Drawing on qualitative interviews with 22 Rwandan women, we describe the lived experiences of women survivors of gender-based violence (GBV) more than a decade and a half after the 1994 Genocide. We argue that the intersection between GBV and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) has long-term implications: the majority of women interviewed continue to endure trauma, stigma, social isolation, and economic hardship in the postgenocide era and are in need of expanded economic and mental health support. Our findings have implications for the importance of providing integrated psychosocial support to survivors of GBV postconflict contexts.
Notes
1. Article 1 of the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women available at http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/48/a48r104.htm.
2. For more background on the Rwanda Genocide see Prunier (Citation1995) and Des Forges (Citation1999).
3. In Rwanda, the Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa historically comprised approximately 84%–90%, 9%–15%, and 1% of the population, respectively (Straus, 2006, p. 19).
4. According to the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) in 1991, the HV prevalence rate was 27% in urban areas, 8.5% in semiurban areas, and 2.2% in rural areas.
5. Seropositive status refers to an HIV-positive status (Genet, Sebsibie, & Gulty, 2015).
6. In 2005, the Rwandan Government implemented a program in partnership with Partners in Health and a local NGO, Inshuti Mu Buzima, to provide community-based health care services in rural areas. For more information see http://www.pih.org/pages/rwanda/. In the same year, the Rwandan Government also initiated the Mutuelles de Santé (CTAMS), a community-based health insurance scheme. According to the Ministry of Health, 91% of Rwandans have health insurance (2009a).
7. Recently, the government adopted a new plan for 2013–2018 that is focused on “pursuing the same objective, with inspiration from the global targets of ‘zero new HIV infections, zero HIV-related deaths and zero stigma and discrimination due to HIV’” (Ministry of Health, Citation2013). This plan was not in place, however, at the time of data collection.
8. Although a total of 77 women were interviewed for the NGO project, only 22 interviews from women who experienced some form of violence during the genocide are analyzed in this article.
9. Seeds of Empowerment (SOE), a 501C3 nonprofit organization, conducted the interviews and transcribed interviews for analysis. SOE was founded by the third author.
10. The second author followed IRB procedures for the analysis of secondary data. An earlier version of the article was submitted by the second author for a master of science in health care administration.