This dissertation provides a critical gender analysis of the Kenyan Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission's (TJRC) recommendations for reparations. While 'gender' describes the form of analysis undertaken, this dissertation is focused on how gender has interacted with other factors to influence women and girls' experiences of violence and harm during the TJRC's post-independence mandate period (1963 to early 2008) and whether or not the TJRC's proposed reparations program offers gender-sensitive remedies. Therefore, the main question this dissertation seeks to determine is: to what extent does the TJRC's Reparations Framework a) address the types of violence and harm commonly experienced by women, b) encourage their participation in developing the framework, c) promote a change to female victims and survivors' lived realities and d) address the root causes of this violence? This question is explored through an examination of primary and secondary sources such as empirical research on violence against women in Kenya, academic theory on gender-sensitive reparations programs, reports and literature produced by civil society institutions and the TJRC's Final Report. The dissertation's analysis draws on normative theory regarding reparations from scholars such as de Greiff (2006) and Hamber (2009) among others. The civil society document, The Nairobi Declaration (2007) and the literature on gender sensitive reparations, specifically that of Rubio-Marin (2009), Manjoo (2010), Duggan and Jacobson (2009), Durbach and Chappell (2014) act as guideposts for this analysis. This literature establishes the basic elements of any gender-sensitive reparations framework, namely: participation, rehabilitation and transformation. Overall, the TJRC was dedicated to understanding women's experiences of human rights violations and recommending remedy to women acutely impacted by violence. However, due to limited funds, controversies over the suitability of its Chairman, Bethuel Kiplagat, a poor relationship with civil society and oversights of its own, the Commission faced difficulty in securing meaningful participation of women in the development of its recommendations for reparations. However, notwithstanding a few oversights, it is argued that the content of the TJRC's recommendations for reparations are gender sensitive. Given the gravity of violence and the massive numbers of victims in need of redress, the recommendations for reparations separate victims in terms of violations endured and their level of vulnerability. Overall, this eligibility criterion is responsive to the types of violence and harm commonly endured by women. The TJRC's proposed reparations include elements of acknowledgement, rehabilitation, prevention and transformation. With the Commission's recommendations to provide medical and psychosocial vouchers, pensions as well as collective reparations in the form of official acknowledgment, institutional reforms and gender violence recovery centers, the reparations program has the potential to impact both the lived experiences of victims and survivors as well as in a small way, subvert Kenya's deeply entrenched gender hierarchy. With a combination of individual and collective reparations, the TJRC's recommendations for reparations, if implemented, could play a role in combating the micro and macro impact of gendered violence in Kenyan society.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uct/oai:localhost:11427/20608 |
| Date | January 2016 |
| Creators | Smith, Rebecca |
| Contributors | Scanlon, Helen |
| Publisher | University of Cape Town, Faculty of Humanities, Department of Political Studies |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Master Thesis, Masters, MPhil |
| Format | application/pdf |
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