Victims of Unpopular Birth Circumstances: Situating the Fate of People Born of Genocidal Rape in Rwanda within Nussbaum’s Capability Theory of Social Exclusion

This paper investigates the social exclusion of people conceived through genocidal rape during the 1994 Rwandan genocide, analyzing their lived experiences through the framework of Martha Nussbaum’s capability theory. Using existing literature, the study shows how contested identities, cultural stereotypes, and social stigma marginalize this set of people across family, community, and societal levels. While people are generally innocent at birth, society still has a way of marginalizing people based on the circumstances of birth. Using Nussbaum’s ten capabilities, this study understands that people born of genocidal rape in Rwanda have diminished capabilities as compared to the majority of society. Such impaired capabilities reinforce social exclusion, which further plunges the victims into a cycle of cultural, political, social, economic, and psychological marginalization. The paper submits that the social exclusion of people born of genocidal rape constitutes social injustice and advocates for the dismantling of cultural barriers to enable the full participation of such individuals in the Rwandan society.