ACHIEVING GENDER-JUST PROGRAMMES: A CASE STUDY ON SOUTH AFRICA’S TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to research how transitional justice programmes have to this day inadequately addressed gender-based violence by specifically examining the overall framework of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in its goal towards reconciliation as a case study. To gain a thorough analysis on how its framework impacted its inclusion of women’s experiences of conflict and how it could have worked towards having a more transformative effect on the lives of black women in South Africa. To conduct the analysis, this thesis applies the theories of gender justice, decoloniality, and intersectionality. And examines the framework of the Commission by specifically adopting a method of content analysis to establish and analyse its framework. The research found that the framework of the TRC (established as the Conceptual Framework, the Mandate, and Reparations) greatly impeded the adequate inclusion of women in its goal towards reconciliation. And that for it to be a gender-just programme, the framework needed to be more inclusive and considerate of women’s unique experiences of conflict in its practice.