Children born out of rape in the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi are prone to intensive mental and physical health effects than other survivors of the massacre.

Researchers say intervention to break the circle of mental and physical health problems 27 years later are necessary.

In a research paper published in April 2021 on Social Science and Medicine, it was noted that being conceived during the 1994 Genocide Against Tutsi are prone to poorer health with multiple negative health conditions in adulthood including cardiovascular and autoimmune diseases, obesity, depression and anxiety.

The study found that children conceived during the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi are more prone to poorer mental function, scored high in post-traumatic stress disorder tests, had issues relating to anxiety, depression, physical function, pain intensity and sleep disturbance compared with young adults who were not exposed to genocide.

Titled Double Jeopardy: Young adult mental and physical health outcomes following conception via genocidal rape during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, the study explored the results of consistent mental, physical and social complications faced by the respondents.

Poor physical health resulted from the fact that their bodies were biologically formed under distress and poor conditions of their mothers during the genocide.

The stress continued with adverse poor childhood experiences. It had been previously established that the prevalence of mental health issues such as depression is 35 percent prevalent among genocide survivors as opposed to 11 percent in the general population.

The research by Glorieuse Uwizeye, a mental health nurse and fellow at Dartmouth College, found out that the impacts are not only limited to mental health but also physical problems and organ functions.

In an interview with Rwanda Today, Glorieuse Uwizeye explained that stressful experiences were not only prenatal but also extended throughout their childhood. She pointed out that stressful experiences include abuse, stigma, discrimination, fear, shame, guilt, poverty, lack of parental care and lack of access to available opportunities, such as education, which may be exacerbated by low socioeconomic status.

In focus groups that were interviewed during the research, exposed respondents were observed to be of poor financial status and less academic achievements.

During the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi, rape was one of the dehumanizing weapons used against victims. It is estimated that up to 250,000 women were raped. While the exact number is unknown, it is estimated that between 2,000 and 10,000 individuals, now aged 25-26 years old, were conceived via genocidal rape.

The children, now adults, have had to face stigma and social dilemmas for their entire lives. They grew up bearing the stigma, shunned by their own families and communities.

Although they live heightened impacts of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, they are not seen as survivors thus not entitled to government support.

According to Naphtali Ahishakiye, Executive Secretary of Ibuka, children born out of rape are only supported through their mothers who are survivors or by private organisations.

They are not entitled to government support for survivors such as education, resulting in a big number of them ending up illiterate.

The research is the first to examine prenatal impact on physical health of exposure to the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. Given the findings, the research suggests that interventions on different levels are needed to break the circle of trauma.

“We need more research interventions to establish more facts about the aftermath of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. Then, from policy makers, public institutions to families and communities will intervene by providing a facilitating environment that boosts resilience,” Uwizeye explained

Her point was echoed by Godelieve Mukasarasi, founder of Sevota, an NGO that brings together widows of the Genocide against the Tutsi and their children.

In her opinion, survivors in her NGO are the true meaning of resilience with many of the children now married with successful careers and businesses.

Although Mukasarasi agrees that there is still much to be done to facilitate resilience, she emphasised that she witnessed resilience in SEVOTA’s members during the last 27 years more than health complications and mental health issues.

Mukasarasi, 62, and a survivor herself, welcomes the idea of investing in research projects to explore the challenges survivors and descendants continue to face 27 years later.