June 7, 2007

CDD/CI Workshop
"Gender, Justice and Reconciliation"

Agenda / Article about workshop / Presentation by Prof. Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu

On June 7, 2007 Coexistence International (CI) and the Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) co-sponsored a workshop entitled “Gender, Justice and Reconciliation” at the Fiesta Royale Hotel in Accra, Ghana.  This was the first workshop of the CI-CDD joint project on Transitional Justice and Peacebuilding in West Africa.

Addressing past injustices is critical to the struggle for women’s rights.  Transitional justice processes can offer both women and men the opportunity to air their grievances and open a dialogue about the future of human rights in the country.  However, these processes can often neglect the unique situation of women; which can contribute to their “double marginalization” both during and after a period of violence.  The topic of gender sensitivity in transitional justice processes is extremely important given the amount of countries currently transitioning from war or authoritarianism to stable democracy.  Presenters at the CDD-CI workshop reflected on the recent transitional justice process in Ghana (see side bar) and examined the process specifically through the lens of gender. 

As workshop chairman Ken Attafuah, former Executive Secretary of the NRC, stated: “How can transitional justice mechanisms better engage with women survivors? How can institutions and processes be more responsive to gender issues?”  Prof. Attafuah warned against the typical responses to gender issues in the transitional justice context, which often include ignoring the question of gender altogether, or on the other hand, “gender ghettoization” whereby the issue is addressed, but sparingly and on the margins of the discussion.  In his opening address, the chairman argued for a third option in which gender issues should be addressed throughout the transitional justice process on all levels. 

The first presentation of the workshop by Ms. Nansata Saliah Yakubu, a Fellow at the International Center for Transitional Justice, provided an overview of the challenges facing women in Ghana.  These included economic deprivation, political dominance of men, violation of dignity, physical and sexual abuse, displacement of families, and terror by men in uniform, among others.  Ms. Yakubu pointed out that the NRC actually found a smaller scale of violence against women than was expected in Ghana; a fact which many attribute to the stigma against women speaking out and ignorance of NRC confidentiality measures. 

Ms. Yakubu’s presentation was followed by that of a former NRC commissioner, Prof. Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu, who spoke on “Lessons from Ghana’s NRC” in relation to gender (see the text from her presentation here).  Ms. Mensa-Bonsu focused on the specific structure and process that the Ghanaian NRC took.  She stressed that, “Justice TRC-style does not begin and end with the process, but is a product of the process in its entirety.”  A reconciliation process can fail to deliver justice and true societal reconciliation if its design does not accurately take into account the context of the society in which it operates.  Gender sensitivity was utilized to some extent in the formation of the NRC system, with females in leadership positions, sensitization training, and family counseling to support women to speak out.  According to Prof. Mensa-Bonsu, the NRC also considered the impacts of varying types of justice, i.e. the impact of financial reparations versus truth-telling for women and men. Although Mensa-Bonsu stressed the need in any reconciliation process to forge links with civil society so that it can continue justice efforts after the short life-span of the institution, she also stated her perception that in the case of Ghana the women’s lobby did not become as involved during the process as the NRC Commissioners might have hoped for.  One audience member speculated that discussions around a domestic violence bill in Ghana at the same time as the NRC unfortunately may have diverted the focus and attention of the women’s lobby.

The final presentation of the workshop focused on the role of the media in addressing gender issues both during the NRC and more generally.  Dr. Audrey Gadzekpo of the University of Ghana talked about the effect of media culture (i.e. the rules, norms, values, and practices of journalists at a specific media outlet) in determining the role that media can play, or neglect to play, in covering a story.  She posed the question: “Does the media tell us what to think, or what to think about?” and maintained that, although theoretically objective, journalistic practice is always situated in the politics and economics of a society as well as that of the individual journalist.  With regards to the NRC process, Dr. Gadzekpo echoed the disappointment of many in the audience concerning the framing strategies of gender stories.  Although journalists were given sensitivity training prior to the NRC, she stated that many of them downplayed stories of gender violence and rape, and missed an important opportunity to make the connections to larger issues of women’s victimization in Ghana.  One audience member pointed out that, even today, the media in Ghana often frames stories of violence against women in ways that place responsibility on the victim and deflect attention from the culpability of the perpetrator.

A major theme of the workshop was the collective responsibility in building post-conflict reconciliation, rather than laying the burden wholly at the feet of a particular transitional justice mechanism, i.e. the NRC.  One of the  main lessons of Ghana’s NRC for future transitional justice processes in the region may be to engage civil society and the women’s lobby more actively, so that the capacity and engagement is there to continue the healing process and societal changes needed once the institution of a truth and reconciliation commission is gone. Another conclusion of the workshop was the importance of sustained gender-sensitivity training for the media, so that the constraints of patriarchal culture can be overcome and women’s issues can be properly reported.  Prof. Attafuah maintained in his closing remarks that the National Reconciliation Commission of Ghana was not flawless, particularly regarding gender issues; but in many other ways, and compared to other regional processes, it could be called a relative success. The lessons of the Ghanaian NRC regarding gender may serve as a useful example for current transitional justice processes in Liberia and Sierra Leone, which could learn from both its positive and negative aspects.

An electronic newsletter focusing on transitional justice and peacebuilding, including questions of gender, will be published by CDD this month.  The next workshop of the joint project on Transitional Justice and Peacebuilding in West Africa will take place in Liberia in early fall 2007.  Please check back soon for updates.