Umwana w'umugore
The gendered realities of girls born of conflict-related sexual violence and their mothers in post-genocide Rwanda
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 5140778 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Myriam Denov (0000-0001-7963-1136, McGill University), Djamila Saad (Université de Sherbrooke) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 29 |
| Issue | 13 |
| Pages | 1503-1518 |
| Publication date | 2024-11-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Health Psychology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1359-1053 • E-ISSN: 1461-7277 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/13591053231223883 |
| PMID | 38247341 |
| OpenAlex | W4391107581 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 28 |
This article explores the challenges, needs and capacities of girls born of conflict-related sexual violence during the 1994 Rwandan genocide against the Tutsi. Twenty-nine interviews and 11 focus groups were conducted with girls born of genocidal rape, alongside 44 interviews with mothers of children born of genocidal rape. In a society where Umwana w'umugore - being 'the child of a woman' - is considered an insult for children born of rape, gendered realities profoundly shape girls' experiences. Data reveal that girls born of genocidal rape face challenges related to identity and belonging, multiple forms of violence and economic challenges. Moreover, girls sustain the indirect consequences of gender-based injustices committed against their mothers, making stigma and social exclusion shared and intergenerational experiences, alongside mutual care and support. Policy development must take into account the unique needs of girls born of rape, the precarious situation of their mothers and broader gender inequalities
Criminology · Developmental psychology · Focus group · Genocide · Identity (music · Inequality · Political science · Psychiatry · Sexual violence · Social exclusion · Sociology · Stigma (botany · Gender, Security, and Conflict · Middle East and Rwanda Conflicts · Peacebuilding and International Security · Psychology · Gender Studies
Mothers of children born of genocidal rape in Rwanda
Risk for Family Rejection and Associated Mental Health Outcomes Among Conflict-Affected Adult Women Living in Rural Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo
Reshaping Gender Norms in Post-Genocide Rwanda
How Motherhood Triumphs Over Trauma Among Mothers With Children From Genocidal Rape in Rwanda
You Feel Like You Belong Nowhere”
Post-War Stigma, Violence and ‘Kony Children’
The Death Toll of the Rwandan Genocide
Women's participation in the Rwandan genocide
They came with two guns’
I Asked Myself If I Would Ever Love My Baby”
I Learned Who I Am”
Using thematic analysis in psychology
Ethnic belonging of the children born out of rape in postconflict Bosnia‐Herzegovina and Rwanda
Legacy of Colonialism in the Empowerment of Women in Rwanda
Transgenerational trauma in Rwandan genocidal rape survivors and their children
We are children like others
Women's experiences of gender equality laws in rural Rwanda
Loose Women, Virtuous Wives, and Timid Virgins
| Citations per year | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Highly cited | No |