Shattered Lives

During the 1994 genocide, Rwandan women were subjected to sexual violence on a massive scale, perpetrated by members ofthe infamous Hutu militia groups known as the Interahamwe, by other civilians, and by soldiers of the Rwandan Armed Forces(Forces Armées Rwandaises, FAR), including the Presidential Guard. Administrative, military and political leaders at thenational and local levels, as well as heads of militia, directed or encouraged both the killings and sexual violence to further theirpolitical goal: the destruction of the Tutsi as a group.