Jonathan Torgovnik writes about "Intended Consequences"
I first travelled to Rwanda in February 2006 on assignment for Newsweek magazine to work on a story about HIV/AIDS, on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the diseases identification. While there, I met Odette, a woman who had been brutally raped during the Rwandan genocide and contracted HIV/ AIDS as a result of those encounters. It was the most powerful and sad interview I have ever experienced, in detail. She told my colleague, health editor, Geoffrey Cowley and I that she had become pregnant as a result of the multiple rapes she endured in the genocide and bore a baby boy. Her horrific story led me to return to Rwanda to embark on a personal mission to document the stories of women like Odette and to share them with the international community.
I learned from local nongovernmental organizations that an estimated twenty thousand children were born from rapes committed during the genocide. Over the last three years, I have returned to Rwanda several times, uncovering more details of the heinous crimes committed against the mothers of these children.
"Intended Consequences" features portraits and interviews of thirty women with their personal stories. Even though I knew what their
stories might contain, it was impossible to prepare myself for what I was going to hear. Most of the women had not revealed their stories to their children and communities; yet with each interview, the women told me the most intimate details of their suffering and the daily challenges they continue to face as a direct result of the brutality. They knew why I was there and they wanted to tell their stories to the world.
All of the women I photographed and interviewed demonstrated that they cared for their children and that they had accepted the responsibility of motherhood despite the violent circumstances in which their children were conceived and, in many cases, despite knowing the fathers of their children were responsible for killing their families. The mothers in this exhibit have lived through the most severe torture any human can endure, and in the aftermath they continue to struggle against multiple levels of trauma. I admire their resilience and courage. They are undoubtedly the strongest human beings I have encountered.
My greatest hope is that, in learning the stories and seeing these images featured in "Intended Consequences," people will be inspired to act and work toward ensuring that similar acts of violence never happen again and that these families can have a brighter future.
