31 August 2023
By Christella Niyonzima, David Taylor and Julia Karlysheva
Transitional justice (TJ) policies can play a vital role in addressing the aftermath of conflicts in the African Union (AU) by tackling structural causes of violence.
Greater focus on promoting positive masculinities and gender equality can strengthen these policies.
This is the central thread of a new policy brief, a collaborative effort between Impunity Watch and CSVR, outlining the key pillars for a gender-transformative approach to the African Union’s Transitional Justice Policy (AUTJP).
Explore our masculinities policy brief
The brief sheds light on recommendations provided by African youth during interviews and focus groupsin Burundi, the DRC, Mali and South Sudan.
This blog post unpacks some of the key insights and proposals highlighted in the brief (and the accompanying webinar launch on 17 August) with the hope of raising awareness and stimulating discussion and action on this crucial issue.
1. Raising awareness of transitional justice
A significant finding of the brief is that many African youth are unfamiliar with the concept of transitional justice, let alone its role in transforming violent gender norms and tackling systemic gender inequality. To bridge this gap, governments and regional actors must launch awareness-raising campaigns, using diverse platforms such as radio, social media, community events, and even school curricula.
Involving the youth in designing innovative outreach strategies is crucial to effectively reach younger audiences.
2. Recognising masculinities
The AUTJP stresses the need for a gender-transformative approach, by stating that:
“transitional justice mechanisms should strive not only to deliver justice for women, but also to transform fundamental gender biases in transitional societies that hinder women from claiming and enjoying their socio-economic and political rights.”
This is a progressive approach. However, the Policy does not address masculinities. The brief underscores the importance of doing so to challenge violence and inequality.
This includes unpacking traditional power dynamics between men and women, and recognising the existence of hegemonic masculinities that are often central to the perpetration of violence. Women in many societies are in weaker positions and face daily gender-based violence.
As one participant from Burundi said:
“Society teaches the boy to be strong, to be dominant, or even sometimes to wage war, and the girl to be docile.”
This approach also means recognising the different ways conflict, in turn, reinforces and even exacerbates violent masculinities and inequalities. The social, political, and institutional impact is acute, entrenching patriarchal norms throughout society.
The African Union should urgently develop a policy or guidance note on masculinities, empowering states to design inclusive national policies based on the AUTJP.
3. Inclusive participation
Youth participants highlighted that young women often face obstacles to participating in transitional policy processes due to various factors, including limited opportunities and hostile attitudes. To ensure meaningful involvement, policy processes must directly address these challenges.
Creating inclusive and safe spaces and allocating sufficient time for young women’s participation will help shape more effective transitional justice policies that respond to their particular needs and aspirations.
4. Strengthening the agency of women and youth
Supporting women and youth to strengthen their political agency is key to transitional justice according to the youth participants. Despite ongoing efforts, they still encounter barriers preventing their voices from being heard in policymaking spheres.
Establishing strong local, national, and regional structures with political influence is essential to drive change. Engaging men as allies in efforts to enhance women’s participation through training, awareness campaigns, and positive masculine role models is another critical step.
In the words of a young (male) participant from Mali:
“It is us men who side-line women and prevent them from progressing… A woman is capable of doing all that a man can do… I support positive discrimination in favour of women because habits and customs continue to hold them back.
5. Challenging norms
Cultural, religious, political, and institutional norms perpetuate gender inequality, and the idea of men as inherently violent.
This leads to abuse against those in weaker positions of power and perpetuates structures of oppression that normalise, often even institutionalise violence against women. Men who do not conform to dominant stereotypes also fall victim to conservative ideas of gender identity.
The brief calls for collaborative efforts between governments, civil society, and African youth to promote gender equality and challenge harmful norms. Legislative action, education programmes, and awareness campaigns are key to dismantling discriminatory laws and practices.
6. Pursuing justice for victims
Governments should intensify their efforts to prosecute sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) cases. Adequate resourcing, proper application of laws, protective measures, and legal aid are crucial for ensuring justice for survivors.
This step is pivotal in establishing a norm of accountability and preventing future occurrences.
7. Promoting positive masculinities
Addressing violent masculinities is imperative for fostering peaceful societies.
This includes challenging deeply entrenched and often unrealistic expectations on men and boys to compete and use violence to validate their power and social and economic status. This can have a negative impact on women and girls, and society more broadly.
Civil society and young people must collaborate to promote non-violent, co-responsible masculinities.
This includes looking outside the scope of traditional actors. Engaging various community and religious leaders as allies in this endeavor, for example, can lead to a broader societal shift.
It also means leveraging education, sports and the arts to cultivate more positive masculinities.
This point was stressed by Fiacre Lexi Kalugusha, a youth representative from the DRC, during the launch of the brief: “Acting at the level of schools and universities is important to explain the impact of violent masculinities. As is using art to sensitise people to, and cultivate positive masculinities.”
Leveraging diverse allies and tactics in addressing violent masculinities and promoting gender equality can lead to a broader societal shift.
8. Mental health and psycho-social support
Recognising the significance of mental health and psycho-social support (MHPSS) is vital in addressing the consequences and root causes of violence.
The brief highlights the need for comprehensive MHPSS policies that collaborate with civil society to support women’s agency, aid post-conflict recovery, and challenge deeply entrenched gender norms.
MHPSS must also be de-stigmatised, to allow both women and men to access support without fear of shame.
Speaking at the launch of the brief, Fatou Baldeh, a women’s rights activist from The Gambia, stressed that access to MHPSS is a huge challenge for men, because they are perceived as ‘weak’ – i.e. not ‘masculine’ – for experiencing mental health issues.
Explore our MHPSS policy brief
The insights from African youth in this policy brief underscore the importance of inclusive and gender-sensitive transitional justice policies.
By raising awareness, challenging violent norms, and promoting empowerment, significant strides can be made towards creating more just societies in Africa.
Governments, civil society, and the African Union must collaborate to turn these recommendations into action that truly transforms transitional justice across the continent.