How Motherhood Triumphs Over Trauma Among Mothers With Children From Genocidal Rape in Rwanda

Odeth Kantengwa

37 citations0/0 files storedJournal of Social and Political Psychology

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Gender, Security, and Conflict Memory, violence, and history Middle East and Rwanda Conflicts

Abstract

Rape is a common occurrence during genocide and the presence of children born as a result of rape poses a challenge to post-genocide recovery processes. This paper treats mothers of children born as a result of genocidal rape during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi as a separate category of survivors and explores the contribution of a positive embrace of motherhood in their recovery. It is based upon a study that included fourteen women from Kigali city, Karongi District in the Western Province and Huye District in the Southern Province. Qualitative analysis of individual interviews and focus groups provided a means to explore in-depth the perceptions of mothers and the value of motherhood. It was found that mothers of children of rape experienced challenges raising their children, especially in the early stages of parenting. Social stigma related to rape and children born of rape created challenges, as did the lack of psychosocial resources for the women, particularly when faced with disclosing paternity to the children. However, despite these and other difficulties, motherhood played a positive role for many women, often providing a reason to live again after the genocide. These findings show that positive experiences of motherhood can be key to the recovery of survivors of genocidal rape in Rwanda and points to future directions for research and health promotion among populations affected by conflict-related sexual violence.

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References

2014Constructing grounded theory 1992Complex PTSD: A syndrome in survivors of prolonged and repeated trauma 2005Positive Affect and the Complex Dynamics of Human Flourishing.1998International Handbook of Multigenerational Legacies of Trauma 2005Researching violence against women: a practical guide for researchers and activists 1999Leave None to Tell the Story: Genocide in Rwanda 2000Surfacing Children: Limitations of Genocidal Rape Discourse 2008Rape as a Weapon of Genocide

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2018“I Asked Myself If I Would Ever Love My Baby”: Mothering Children Born of Genocidal Rape in Rwanda 2019Risk and Protective Factors Among Palestinian Women Living in a Context of Prolonged Armed Conflict and Political Oppression 2019‘They Should See Us as a Symbol of Reconciliation’: Youth Born of Genocidal Rape in Rwanda and the Implications for Transitional Justice 2019Mothers of children born of genocidal rape in Rwanda: Implications for mental health, well-being and psycho-social support interventions

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