Article ‘They Should See Us as a Symbol of Reconciliation’: Youth Born of Genocidal Rape in Rwanda and the Implications for Transitional Justice Myriam Denov and Sara Kahn* Abstract Rape and other brutal forms of sexual violence are now widely acknowledged as weapons of war, designed not only to violate and terrorize individual victims but also to denigrate the larger communities to which victims belong. Yet children born of conflict-related sexual violence remain largely overlooked as victims to the profound consequences of sexual violence and excluded from transitional justice processes aiming to reconcile and repair post-conflict societies. Through in-depth qualitative interviews and focus groups with 60 participants born of genocidal rape in Rwanda, this study sought to examine the experiences and lived realities of this specific group of conflict-affected young people. The voices and perspectives of Rwandan youth born of genocidal rape draw attention to the complex reality of vic- timhood, social stigma and identity as a result of conflict-related sexual violence, alongside participants’ desire for societal recognition. Our findings suggest that the inclusion of this population of youth is urgently needed as part of the broader initia- tives addressing conflict-related sexual violence and transitional justice in the after- math of war and genocide. Keywords: children; reconciliation; Rwanda; sexual violence; war 1. Introduction Sexual violence has become widely acknowledged as a weapon of war that is systematically used in armed conflict against vast numbers of victims (UN Women 2013). Systematic rape and other forms of sexual violence as tools of war are designed not only to humiliate and terrorize individual victims but also to denigrate and dominate the larger communities to * Myriam Denov is a Full Professor and Canada Research Chair in Youth, Gender and Armed Conflict, and Sara Kahn is an Assistant Professor, at the School of Social Work, McGill University, Montreal. V C The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com Journal of Human Rights Practice, 11, 2019, 151–170 doi: 10.1093/jhuman/huz011 Advance Access Publication Date: 28 April 2019 Article Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jhrp/article/11/1/151/5481203 by guest on 06 September 2022