articles by Judith Rafferty (nee Herrmann)
Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal, 2018
Survivors of human rights abuses need to experience a sense of justice to support their individua... more Survivors of human rights abuses need to experience a sense of justice to support their individual recovery. Women who have experienced conflict-related sexual violence have specific justice interests that are distinct from those of survivors of other abuses. This article focuses on justice interests of Rwandan women who experienced sexual violence during the genocide in Rwanda and who had their cases tried in gacaca community courts between 2008 and 2012. The article discusses two justice interests that emerged during interviews with 23 Rwandan women about their gacaca experience. These interests include the punishment of perpetrators and perpetrators taking responsibility for their actions and the harm caused. Punishment was important to most women for several reasons, including retribution, safety, validation and vindication. Perpetrators taking responsibility by confessing, apologizing or asking for forgiveness was also important to many women and appeared to be an alternative way of experiencing validation and vindication.
[Extract] During the 1994 Rwandan genocide approximately 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutus were ki... more [Extract] During the 1994 Rwandan genocide approximately 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutus were killed, resulting in mass arrests and extensive criminal prosecution overwhelming an already devastated justice sector. To speed up genocide trials and reduce prison population the government launched approximately 11,000 local community courts, referred to as gacaca. These gacaca courts were meant to deal with 'less serious' genocide related crimes, combining prosecution with national unity and reconciliation.
Mediation and conflict coaching are both dispute support services to assist people in dealing wit... more Mediation and conflict coaching are both dispute support services to assist people in dealing with conflict. Each process is characterised by factors determining whether mediation or conflict coaching may constitute the more appropriate mechanism to help people with their particular conflict. For example, the number of disputing parties, preferences regarding confidentiality and formality, as well as the objectives and expectation of participants seeking assistance with a conflict support service may influence the selection of a process. This article compares conflict coaching and mediation as independent approaches to conflict resolution from the perspective of parties seeking assistance with the aim to identify the most suitable service in a given conflict situation.
Judith and Claire presented at this year's National Mediation Conference. They discussed their pe... more Judith and Claire presented at this year's National Mediation Conference. They discussed their personal experiences with developing training for mediators in different cultural settings overseas, including the Thailand-Burma border and the Central African Republic (CAR). Claire and Judith reflected on how their studies in conflict management and resolution as well as their mediation training in Australia had assisted them in developing training modules in these different settings. They evaluated which skills and procedural features of the Australian facilitative mediation model they found to be of greatest use and which procedures needed to be modified to be applicable to the specific locations in which they worked.
Research involving survivors of sexual violence requires particular ethical and safety considerat... more Research involving survivors of sexual violence requires particular ethical and safety considerations. In this article I outline challenges that I encountered when preparing and conducting interviews with female survivors of sexual violence in Rwanda. My research design was informed by phenomenological and feminist approaches, which assisted in sensitising me to and addressing matters specific to my fieldwork. Besides methodological issues deriving from the role of a qualitative researcher, the challenges included identifying and inviting participants, managing logistics relating to the interviews, researching in another language, building rapport with interview participants, referral to support services, and self-care. In this article, I discuss what I did to overcome these issues, making reference to existing literature and training that helped me in preparing for my fieldwork. Summarising my experiences, I provide a list of key experiences and lessons learned at the end of the article, aiming to help researchers prepare for their work with vulnerable groups. I also highlight a number of ethical issues that I perceived as particularly challenging and suggest that they require further discussion in the future.
To become accredited under the National Mediation Accreditation System Standards (NMAS Standards)... more To become accredited under the National Mediation Accreditation System Standards (NMAS Standards), mediators receive training in the facilitative model. Whilst the NMAS Standards provide a useful framework for mediation training and process design, mediators who work in culturally diverse settings need to be flexible, especially when engaging with communities in conflict and post-conflict settings. The authors were both engaged in the design of mediation processes and relevant training resources in refugee camps on the Thailand-Burma (Myanmar) border and in remote villages in the Central African Republic (CAR). In this article, Herrmann and Holland explain how they adapted particular mediation features to the contexts where they worked.
Edited Journal Issues by Judith Rafferty (nee Herrmann)
Genocide Studies and Prevention, 2018
Papers by Judith Rafferty (nee Herrmann)
Genocide Studies and Prevention, 2018
This presentation discusses the findings of research that investigates the needs of female victim... more This presentation discusses the findings of research that investigates the needs of female victim-survivors of conflict-related sexual violence and explores their experiences with transitional justice processes. The research focuses on the needs and experiences of Rwandan female victim-survivors who suffered sexual violence during the genocide against the Tutsi in 1994 and who raised their case at one of Rwanda’s local gacaca courts. The gacaca court system was established in 2001 by the Rwandan government to deal with genocide-related crimes with the intent to reveal the truth, end the ‘culture of impunity’ and promote both justice and reconciliation. The research was informed by phenomenological and feminist methodologies, utilised a qualitative approach and is based on semi-structured interviews with 23 Rwandan victim-survivors, conducted by the presenter in 2015/2016 with the assistance of a Kinyarwanda speaker. The interviews focused on investigating the women’s motivations to ...
Australian Journal of Clinical Education, 2018
Authentic conflict scenarios are an essential basis for learning activities and assessment tasks ... more Authentic conflict scenarios are an essential basis for learning activities and assessment tasks in the conflict management and resolution field. Authentic scenarios allow students to apply theories and skills to realistic situations, enhancing their learning experiences and workforce readiness. However, finding suitable conflict scenarios for use in teaching and learning is challenging due to a) Confidentiality: limiting the types of conflicts that can be used; b) Evolving resources: conflicts already in the public eye are often complex and continue to evolve which requires a great deal of effort by educators to update content, restricts the diversity of resources available, and makes it difficult to impartially present all aspects of a conflict in an engaging way; and c) Lack of engaging resources: fictitious scenarios are often presented in written text only, failing to provide interactive and engaging resources. In 2016, the James Cook University (JCU) Conflict Management and Re...
Judith Rafferty analysed the justice needs of Rwandan women who were raped during the 1994 genoci... more Judith Rafferty analysed the justice needs of Rwandan women who were raped during the 1994 genocide. She found that the women had multiple justice needs and many, but not all, were addressed by Rwandan community courts. Her findings can help design justice processes that consider the needs of rape survivors.
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articles by Judith Rafferty (nee Herrmann)
Edited Journal Issues by Judith Rafferty (nee Herrmann)
Papers by Judith Rafferty (nee Herrmann)