Intended Consequences:Rwandan children Born of rape

by Jonathan Torgonvnik (Photographer), Marie Consolée Mukagendo (Introduction)

An estimated 20,000 children were born of rapes that occurred during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Fifteen years later, the mothers of these children still face enormous challenges, not least of which is the stigma of bearing and raising a child fathered by a Hutu militiaman. Over the past three years, photographer Jonathan Torgovnik has made repeated visits to Rwanda to document the stories of these women. The portraits and testimonies featured in "Intended Consequences" offer intensely personal and honest accounts of these survivors' experiences of the genocide, as well as their conflicted feelings about raising a child who is a palpable reminder of horrors endured. An introduction by Marie Consolée Mukagendo, a Rwandan UNICEF staff member who has studied these particular consequences of the genocide, provides an in-depth analysis of this complex subject. In recent atrocities in Darfur and the Democratic Republic of Congo, rape is again being used systematically to sow unrest among communities, which makes Torgovnik's poignant reflection on the legacy of the Rwandan genocide urgently relevant. In the spring of 2009, the Aperture Foundation, the Open Society Institute, Amnesty International and Foundation Rwanda launch an international traveling exhibition of this important work.

Genres: Nonfiction

144 pages, Hardcover

First published March 13, 2009

Reviews

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interviews with some of the thousands of women raped during the Rwandan genocide, with color portraits including the resulting children (estimates are there are 20,000 such children), bring home that the consequences of that violence are still being lived. In a strongly patriarchal society with much lingering resentment between the two ethnic groups, life is hard for these women, many permanently disabled, many with HIV, many rejected by their families for having had such a "shameful" thing happen to them. Many women there still have not spoken to anyone about what happened to them. The book brings attention to this worldwide problem, and the author/photographer hopes it will "work toward ensuring that similar acts of violence never happen again and that these families can have a brighter future."

[Spencer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Features photos and short interviews w women and their children born from rape. Hotel rwanda definitely could have been NC17. But the real story is so absolutely repulsive no one would see it. So here it is in part anyway. Rape is just one component of the hell that was some of these peoples lives. Some of these women saw God and meaning in it. Others wish they were dead and hate the
child that is in their care.