Why do people resort to violence to uphold an identity?

Sara E. Brown’s Female Perpetrators of the Rwandan Genocide discusses the role of female agency in the Rwandan Genocide. Brown argues that women played a significant role in the genocide in several roles. Genocide narratives often describe the male role but rarely consider female agency in the violence. This article explores how Hutu women contributed to the killings not only as bystanders but also as participants in the mass violence. Brown emphasizes how Rwandan women were viewed as sexual deviants, outsiders, and disinterested in the mass murder of Tutsis. Her work argues against these images and necessitates that female genocide narratives are studied.

Brown’s analysis of the Hutu commandments enlightened me. She lists the commandments which includes one disqualifying a Hutu man from the ethnic group if they marry a Tutsi woman. The Hutu women generally did not sympathize with the Tutsi women. As the genocide transpired, the Hutu women did not provide Tutsi women with aid nor did they encourage their family to refrain from participating in the genocide. I agree with Brown’s analysis that the lack of sympathy on its own is an important contribution to the genocide. A lack of participation can have just as large an effect as active participation. Academics could pursue studies which examine the impact of female inaction on a genocide. Furthermore, academics should explore the narratives of Hutu women participating in the violence and gauging the impact of female violence. 

There is an excellent film on the Rwandan genocide called Sometimes in April. The film tells the story of a Hutu man, Augustin, who’s married to a Tutsi woman. Augustin’s brother works for the pro-Hutu power radio station Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM) which is an integral communication mechanism for the Hutus during the genocide. Augustin attempts to use his brother’s influence to save his family. The film demonstrates the role of the Hutu commandments mentioned in Brown’s article. It also shows how the Hutus resorted to violence and at which point the Tutsis resorted to violence themselves. 

The genocide was ended by the efforts of foreign aid and the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) lead by Rwanda’s current president Paul Kagame. Rather than focus on the violence of Hutus, I choose to focus on how the RPF turned to violence to uphold the identity of Tutsis. The RPF chose violence to protect Tutsis despite the substantial number of RPF soldiers who were not Tutsis. They demonstrate how groups or individuals resort to violence not only to uphold their own identity but also the identity of others. In this case, groups or individuals are sympathetic to the vulnerable identity and act out of empathetic defense. 

Empathy is an important factor in people resorting to violence to uphold an identity. Often we consider how people turn to violence in self-defense. Yet there are many other examples of violence where it is an ally defending the identity of another group or individual. People resort to violence to uphold an identity as self-defense which is motivated by factors ranging from aggression to desperation. Outsiders defend the identities of their peers when they are empathetic to their cause. Sometimes in April explains how genocide persist for so long without intervention. It is an example of how empathy for a vulnerable identity can result in violence.

Sometimes in April Trailer