Open AccessEnding impunity for gender crimes: Access to justice for violence against women and its contribution to sustainable peace building in Rwanda.
Author(s) -
G John,
Margaret W. Gachihi,
Herbert Misigo Amatsimbi,
Etienne Ruvebana
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
rwanda j. soc. sci. humanit. bus. s/rwanda journal of social sciences, humanities and business
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2708-7603
pISSN - 2708-759X
DOI - 10.4314/rjsshb.v2i2.4
Subject(s) - impunity , economic justice , political science , criminology , government (linguistics) , structural violence , human rights , law , public administration , sociology , politics , linguistics , philosophy
This paper seeks to establish the contribution of Accessible justice to ending impunity for violence against women. Consequently, it investigates how far availing legal remedies to victims of violence against women leads to sustainable peace building in Rwanda. In doing so, the study adopts a case of Access to Justice Bureaus- a judicial service established by the government of Rwanda to help people have access to free legal remedies. Based on data collected from fifty five in-depth interviews and six focus group discussions in the four provinces and Kigali city, findings reveal that through free legal representation, community mobilization, formation of gender dialogue groups and multi-sectoral collaboration, Access to Justice Bureaus have played an important role in combatting impunity to violence against women. Conversely, findings also point to a number of challenges that need to be addressed if violence against women is to be fully eradicated.