"One of the most interesting classes I took, "Europe and the Americas," detailed the systematic and brutally efficient decimation of indigenous peoples and cultures. One of the required books, I, Rigoberta Menchú, recounted the struggle of indigenous Guatemalans. Later on, in "Imagining the Holocaust," I heard the horrific account of what happened to Jews during World War II. At Stanford I was forced to pull back from my tight community and understand how a common thread ran through so many other cultures around the world where people had to fight for their rights."

"The Mexic Amerindian woman has inherited the sexism instituted by dominant Mexican and U.S. society compounded by the sexism within certain oppressed indigenous cultures. In neither the creative literature nor the ethnographic documentation, did I hear her speak for herself. Only in 1992, the quincentenary of European conquest, was the world delivered the voice of one Mesoamerican woman, the Mayan Rigoberta Menchu who received the Nobel Peace Prize for her ongoing activism on behalf of her people's human rights."

"I don’t want to be controversial, but I do see that under Ronald Reagan and Bush’s administration there was a fantasy created of a third World War. And this fantasy really damaged the mentality of the military in Guatemala and Guatemalan fascists, and they still believe that communism exists. I don’t know what they’re referring to, but the truth is that here in Guatemala, women were raped, girls were raped, they strangled children, they assassinated and wiped out entire indigenous peoples, just because they thought they were so-called subversives and communists. So humanity really has to look into what occurred."

"It’s clear that there is no peace without justice. There is no peace without truth."

"I think that it’s very important, and what’s really crucial here is the memory of the victims and the search for the truth, and also the commitment to substantiate the truth. So the truth is foremost, because they accused us of being liars. They tried to denigrate the memory of the victims."

"In general, the women did not speak about rape because of shame as well as fear of becoming marginalized or someone taking revenge."

"Everyone still lives with the consequences. Some of the perpetrators went to jail, but they come back and live close to the survivors. The genocide is not over; the survivors are still living with those who committed the crimes."

"We must learn how to live positively with the bad and good."

"It's very important to work with these women because they have undergone many atrocities during the genocide, and like other women and other humans, they have a right to live."

"I wanted the widows and orphans, as well as other distressed people, to adjust. I wanted them to restart their shattered and broken lives and work toward peace and the development of our country."

"It was a tough time, but I still tried to work with them because they also needed to live, and to live in peace."

"Rwandan women have played a big role to make sure that sexual violence in conflict became known as a crime against humanity, for us to be in the U.N. is a way of recognizing the hard work and what we have done."

"We feel we are the ones who are able to speak out and…to be a voice for them."

"The important thing is to make sure the U.N. creates another resolution to support the kids who are born from rape. If they are really working hard to prevent such things happening it has to be there. because it’s still happening in other parts of the world."

"There are consequences of sexual violence in conflicts. The first is HIV and AIDS, [but also] kids who are born from rape, unwanted pregnancies."

"In our view, finding peace within oneself is a precondition for society-wide peace. I’m not saying we do no longer demand justice and want criminals to be prosecuted, but ultimately, we want reconciliation."

"Our forums encourage the women to take their fate into their own hands and find inner peace, in spite of the humiliation and violence they have suffered."

"My work will never be done, Even when I die, there must be others to continue this work."

"In 1998, women’s rights activists like us managed to make sure that the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda considers rape in war a genocidal crime, so those who planned and perpetrated such violence can be prosecuted."

"Thanks to the proceedings, many people were able to find the bodies of their dead and bury them."

"We have been demanding a special fund for these children and their mothers, but so far, the government remains stubborn."

"We were proud because we had an impact, not only nationally but on the international scale, as well."

"It is not easy to expose oneself to other people’s suffering again and again. One has to learn to draw a line."

"The women live scattered all over the country, and many had never left their village before coming to the forum. The group setting helps them to better understand their own situation."

"The women’s daily life is marked by worries and difficulties, so we need to reduce stress levels. And we teach them a simple and soothing massage method they can always apply themselves."

"Many women do not even know that children have rights. Moreover, there is time for singing, dancing and praying."

"There is role play, which helps to better understand their situation and solve current problems."

"We also want to encourage them to tell their children the truth. Doing so is hard, but it helps the women to really opt for life, including the life of their child."

"We continue to see women miss out on human rights due to lack of due attention."

"Issues of sexual reproductive health continue to be a major challenge in Africa, especially issues that regard safe abortions, where there are issues brought about by religion, patriarchy, culture among other aspects."

"It’s always important for me to emphasize that prevention is something all individuals can participate in… We all have the power to bring about positive change in our world and in our communities… You have to show up and…you have to vote for those ideas that respect diversity...and human rights"

"We need to have men understand gender equality and cease to be oppressors and perpetrators. This will increase the involvement of human rights affairs."

"Gender rights and women rights ought to be understood and implemented holistically. You cannot ask women what right to have; they should enjoy all rights, rights to their reproductive health, leadership, education, food among other rights."

"When we see African Union putting women rights at the centre of their deliberations, it has taken our push and advocacy over previous years."

"Actually in most countries, women wish to get half of what Rwanda has."

"For us girls, there were no praises, just criticism"

"In Rwanda, there is good political will in terms of gender equality and women’s rights thanks to the President who advances women’s rights and is a believer in gender equality."

"It’s possible to question cultural practices if they don’t align with our values"

"I’m a human being; there isn’t any number of cows that will determine my value"

"As African women, we don’t have to live up to other people’s expectations. We too can question the status quo"

"My life matters. . . No matter what you’ve been through, you should never give up. Never lose hope."

"My feelings of pain and suffering now have also become a way of helping other people and a big part of helping society in general. So, it was not easy. But I’m glad that I never gave up. I persisted and pushed myself to become stronger than before."

"It takes a long time to express how we feel. I am trying to show the other survivors that we need to express that pain we have."

"Physical violence happened to me, and also living with HIV as a result of that, it’s something I will never forget—that will never go anywhere, that I have to live with."

"“I wanted to be in a place where I can start a new life, I needed to start a new life in a place where I’ve never experienced what I’ve experienced. At that time, it was for me to start a new life, through a journey of healing. Leaving Rwanda was easy for me because of the trauma experiences I have had. So I felt like I needed to be in a different place. It happened to be that I came to America because my cousin was here."

"And some of us live with the consequences because of what we’ve been through during the genocide."

"There are women survivors who are not able to share their stories. I have been able to help them, when it came to helping those who were raped, share their stories which is something they had not been able to talk about."

"What happened in one day can happen anywhere, and people should be aware of [this], because it’s not something that happens overnight."

"I am part of making people be aware of how genocide can happen, so. And if we are aware, we can make sure we prevent that from happening again."