Transitional Justice ‘Gender’ Bias: Examining Conflict-related Sexual Violence Discourse in select African Truth Commissions

Abstract

The prevalence of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) has significantly shaped transitional justice mechanisms, particularly truth commissions (TCs), by influencing the methodologies, data types, and institutional responses with the aim to address sexual violence during conflict. Despite these advances, heteronormativity—particularly cisgender- ism and forced heterosexuality—remains a dominant framework in transitional justice, influencing what is recognised and excluded in discussions on gender, sexual violence, and conflict. Using a case study methodology, this study examines how African TCs comprehend gender and its implications for the recognition, documentation, and archiving of CRSV. It analyses three key mandates and final reports: the 2004 Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission (SLTRC), the 2013 Kenyan Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC), and the 2021 Gambian Truth, Reconciliation, and Reparations Commission (TRRC). Guided by a constructivist analysis and informed by the theories of coloniality of power and coloniality of gender, this research finds that although CRSV is prioritised, these commissions often adopt a binary, universalised sex/gender model which privileges heterosexual narratives and marginalises diverse sexual and gendered experiences of violence. The findings reveal that TCs both reproduce and resist colonial and heteronormative legacies, offering critical insights into the production of knowledge about CRSV in African post-conflict transitions.