"How will a monument help somebody whose personal integrity has been violated and who needs compensation for medical support and money to go back to school, who needs her children to be educated…The memorialization means nothing to me if my child doesn’t go to school, if the women can’t go back to school, if they don’t get medical help, if their fistula is not fixed, if their bodies are not healed… that means nothing"
Jacqueline Mutere is a Kenyan women's rights activist who is the co-founder of Grace Agenda, a foundation which provides assistance and counseling to rape victims in Kenya. Mutere is also a member of the National Victims and Survivors Network, an organization which seeks to pursue the reparations agenda of the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC).
"What if my daughter asks me about it? What am I going to answer? Does it matter to me what my in-laws think? What does it mean to me when my child starts condemning me? What if my husband leaves me? You manage the dynamics around you immediately, and then you develop resilience"
"If you stop, who will fight for you?"
"My personal vision is that I will do all I can do with the ability I have"
"My singular motivation is that… if [the government] is responsible for me, when I do something bad it throws me in the slammer. In the same way, when it does badly, it should be thrown in the slammer"