Rwanda, Genocide, and Gender-Based Violence

This month marks 25 years since the 1994 genocide that unfolded before the international community’s watchful eyes in the small East African country of Rwanda. I write this as sheets of rain pour down on Kigali, the growing capital city of Rwanda. I am reminded of the interviews I conducted with survivors from 2011-2018 that involve hiding in swamps or banana plantations during rainstorms to escape the genocidal militia who hunted them down with machetes and guns with the intent to eradicate an entire population. I remember a woman I interviewed in 2012 who shared with me her story of survival.