The publication of the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Bill this week heralds a new beginning for Kenya as the country will now have the chance to deal with historical injustices.

If the Bill  which is supposed to be tabled in Parliament is passed, a TJRC Commission will be established and Kenya will join other African countries namely; South Africa, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, the Central Africa Republic, Ghana, Morocco and Nigeria in using the process of  ‘ truth telling’ to restore justice and move towards reconciliation.

But even before the Bill is tabled in Parliament, concerns are being raised by women organisations on  representation as well as protection  of witness especially women who were raped. They say the bill must be seen to take cognisance of the gender question in our society and the unique challenges that women face.

Even though many Kenyans have welcomed the idea of a TJRC and the fact that one  of its mandate is to establish truth on past injustices, for women, some of the historical injustices also include sexual abuse. It is thus important that TJRC gives credence to experiences of women.

Some of the issues  raised also include the period that the TJRC will be investigating ; which according to the published Billl  starts from  1963-  February 2008. There is concern about  the injustices done before then. And what about access to information  and how does this relate to Official Secrets Act. 

Inorder to further interrogate some of these concerns, recently FIDA-Kenya and Coalition on Violence Against Women (COVAW) held  a one- day Consultative Forum for women leaders where discussions  focused on the gender aspects of the Bill   and how women’s issues should be addressed when the TJRC Commission is finally established. 

Women organisations , while looking at the draft Bill from a gender perspective raised the issues of the composition of the Commissioners and if the Government will prioritise  gender since it has not spelt out in the Bill. The other concern is the place where the Commission will be sitting; which the Bill has specified to be in Nairobi. Majority of women who might want to testify before the TJRC Commissioners live in rural areas and there is no provision on how to get their views. 

 And as stated by Dr. Jacinta Muteshi, former Chair of the Gender Commission  during the meeting, the mechanism of establishing the TJRC through an Act of  Parliament  will provide  space for every Kenyan  to air their opinion on what they think has been the historical injustices in  Kenya. 

She further argued that both men and women will be heard as victims, perpetrators of conflict, violence and violators and according to her giving testimony has the pontential to empower, heal and as well as to provide the victims and pepetrators an opportunity to heal, repent, be punished and be forgiven and even forgive. 

But one thing many gender analysts are worried about is whether the public space which the TJRC shall provide, will it be safe for women. They argued that for women who have suffered sexual violence and other historical injustices, it has been difficult in a way to communicate the trauma  targeted at their bodies, therefore women prefer to be  silent rather than speak. 

For TJRC  to be  meaningful to women, special diligence is needed to make the gender perspective visible and be able to give women a chance to air their views. Deliebrate efforts should also be made to reach the majority of women who might not be aware of its mandate.