Examining the Influence of Feminist Perspectives on Transitional Justice Mechanisms
Transitional justice consists of a broad range of processes and mechanisms aimed at addressing the challenges arising from a history of widespread abuses. It applies when a society has suffered a conflict or a permanent status of violences with the purpose to hold perpetrators accountable, uphold justice, and mainly to achieve reconciliation within society. It is not a specific form of justice, it adapts to the specific context and its mechanisms hold transformative potential to ensure justice for all citizens. However, historically, transitional justice mechanisms have failed to address women's experiences adequately. Women often endure direct forms of violence, such as sexual violence, domestic and sexual servitude, forced displacement, and coerced marriage. Additionally, and really important, they face greater difficulties in rebuilding their lives after a conflict because of deeply rooted gender norms and traditional roles in society. These norms typically impede women's access to property, land, employment opportunities, as well as essential health and education services. Hence, during these challenging periods, women face additional structural forms of violence that are completely disregarded.
Despite this, transitional justice initiatives have not always prioritized addressing the gendered dimensions of both direct and structural violence. To overcome this problem, women in these processes need to be visible, and recognized not just as victims but as active agents in peacemaking, decision-making, and societal reconstruction, both during and after the conflict period. For this reason, feminist contemporary research emphasizes the need to examine and address gender-related issues during transitional phases and highlights the fundamental role that transitional justice mechanisms can play in promoting and achieving gender equality in post-conflict settings.
Over the recent years, several feminist research have emerged to challenge the field of transitional justice. Specifically, intersectionality theory which combines empirical and discursive dimensions of gendered identities, and enables exploration of structural inequalities experienced by social groups. This intersectionality provides a holistic overview by combining different feminist theories, such as radical feminism, queer theory, and postcolonial theory, among others. The main focus is on addressing structural issues, as opposed to liberal theories that do not promote long-lasting changes. These new studies aim not only to reassess the fundamental assumptions behind transitional justice and its related mechanisms, but also to explore how they can advance feminist justice and women’s rights in post-conflict and post-authoritarian contexts.
Additionally, these feminist approaches call for justice that goes beyond legal redress, advocating for deep, structural change at the grassroots level. Thus, feminist perspectives are important for several reasons: they confront the gendered nature of human rights violations, expose the structural inequalities that enable such violence, and emphasize the transformative potential of women’s full participation in transitional justice processes.
This article is structured in three main parts. The first section analyses the multiple forms of violence experienced by women. It distinguishes between violence in the public and private spheres and challenges the notion of women as passive victims, advocating instead for a broader understanding of violence as a continuum. The second section examines various transitional justice mechanisms through a feminist perspective, focusing on how theoretical concepts can inform practical, context-specific approaches to achieving gender justice. The final section brings together the key arguments, acknowledges the limitations of the analysis, and outlines recommendations for future research and action.
The aim of this work is to provide a comprehensive overview of feminist approaches within the field of transitional justice. It highlights the urgent need to integrate gender perspectives into post-conflict processes, an area that remains underexplored despite its critical importance. In doing so, it emphasizes the transformative potential of transitional justice when it addresses structural inequalities and prioritizes gender equality as a central component of sustainable peace building.
Theoretical Framework: The Feminist Lens in Transitional Justice
1.1 Exploring Gender and Feminist Theory
Gender is an emerging and expanding area of study within transitional justice scholarship and practice worldwide, encompassing various disciplines, geographical regions, and methodological approaches. Gender cannot be defined as binary and stable, it is a social structure that shapes the experiences and behaviours of individuals, influencing from family dynamics to broader cultural norms. Over the past fifteen years, there have been some efforts to incorporate gender perspectives into transitional justice frameworks. These efforts respond to the historical oversight of women's experiences during and post-conflict, originating inherent biases within legislation, human rights paradigms, and operational mechanisms of transitional justice.
This article will rely upon the feminist theory, since it provides a framework to analyse women’s violence, justice, and reconciliation. Particularly, it will follow a contemporary feminist scholarship because it explores the evolution of feminist thought, acknowledging how each wave of feminism has influenced the movement's current beliefs and strategies. By analysing the contributions and shortcomings of each wave, contemporary feminism can build on previous achievements and tackle persistent issues.
This article will mostly employ intersectionality theory because it examines how various forms of social stratifications, such as race, gender, and class, intersect and interlace to produce unique dynamics and outcomes. Women’s experiences cannot be understood by looking at gender alone, but must be examined considering how various forms of oppression interconnect. Recognizing these intersections is crucial for developing feminist theories and practices that address the manifold and overlapping natures of discrimination and inequality.
1.2. Feminist Justice in Transitional Societies: Bridging the Gap
Feminist theory provides the intellectual basis and critical tools necessary for understanding the complexities of gender inequality. Furthermore, feminist justice uses these theoretical insights to create tangible changes in society. This type of justice is important because it aims to build an environment where people of all genders have equal opportunities, promoting a more just and inclusive society.
Transitional justice provides a framework designed to address human rights abuses in societies transitioning from repression or conflict to a more peaceful and stable state. Its goal is not only to repair the immediate damages, but also to rebuild trust in the community. Therein, transitional justice handles widespread or systematic human rights violations, endeavouring to achieve victim recognition and promote reconciliation. It adapts principles of justice to support societies when transitioning from periods of extensive human rights abuses to periods of reconciliation, rather than being a unique form of justice. Feminist justice integrates intersection with transitional justice by redefining the concept of peace. Instead of just aiming to stop violence (negative peace), feminist justice strives to create positive peace. Positive peace means building and maintaining systems and structures that allow peaceful societies to thrive, ensuring long-term stability and equity.
Feminist approaches in transitional justice have brought to light several areas in which women have been disproportionately affected and consistently rendered invisible. This article has categorized these concerns into four main areas: (1) Different types of violences; (2) Violence as a continuum; (3) Dichotomy public/private; (4) Empowering Women: Beyond Victims to Active Agents.
1.2.1. The Many Faces of Violence: Feminist Approaches to Understanding and Redress in Transitional Justice
Feminist approaches in transitional justice emphasize the need to recognize the diverse type of violence women experience during societal transformations. Indeed, women are impacted by conflict differently, necessitating a broader view of justice. Early feminist movements in the 1990s focused on the “recognition of harms”, campaigning for the criminal accountability of perpetrators of sexual violence, which was often overlooked legally. Transnational feminist activism during conflicts like the Balkans accentuated the need to prohibit, prevent, and punish violence against women. This type of activism advocated for legal recognition of rape in conflict as a form of torture, crimes against humanity and genocide.
Beyond sexual violence, intersectional feminist argue that transitional justice must encompass the entire range of suffering that women experience, including exclusion, marginalization, and discrimination. This point of view emphasizes the importance of acknowledging and addressing various forms of violence beyond sexual crimes to include structural and systemic injustices. Structural violence in this context involves identifying and examining the sociocultural, economic, and political systems that cause economical, social, physical, sexual, and psychological violence against women.
Intersectional feminists critique the prevailing legal paradigms that prioritize civil and political rights, typically referring to men as direct victims. It calls for the recognition of economic, social, and cultural rights, which are crucial for addressing structural violence. By implementing this approach, transitional justice has the potential to better erode entrenched power dynamics, prevent future harm, and advance feminist justice.
1.2.2. Perpetual Shadows: Feminist Perspectives on the Continuity of Violence
After recognizing and addressing the specific types of violence, feminist approaches observed that women's subordinate status in society has profound implications for transitional justice processes. While both women and men may endure similar violations during and after conflict, the impact on women is largely determined by their pre-existing socio-economic and legal status within patriarchal societies. This continuum of violence shows ongoing discrimination and marginalization before, during, and after conflict. With that in mind, taking into account structural gender inequalities has become a key focus of contemporary feminist involvement in transitional justice.
Furthermore, feminist justice also puts into question the war-peace dichotomy, elucidating that for many women, the end of conflict does not equate to peace but rather a prolongation of violence in alternate forms. In addition, decolonization theory challenges the assumption that the enforcement of Western feminist models in other cultural contexts is appropriate. This is especially pertinent in light of the fact that liberal democracies continue to struggle with their own examples of gender inequality. This underlines the need to take culture into account, and to respect and adapt transitional justice to each context, avoiding paternalistic and racist approaches.
In summary, describing violence as a continuum underlines two main points: first, gender inequalities are deeply rooted and not just products of conflict; second, achieving positive peace requires confronting these intrinsic inequalities and transforming both structures and cultural norms. This approach ensures that transitional justice is not only about addressing past abuses, but also about creating lasting change.
1.2.3. Unpacking the Public/Private Dichotomy with Feminist Insights
The foundational work of Charlesworth, Chinkin, and Wright in the early 1990s expounds on broader feminist theories that reprove the male-centric perspective inherent in many legal frameworks, especially concerning the public/private divide. This dichotomy prioritizes the public sphere while forgetting the private realm, where significant gendered violence occurs. Traditional views in transitional justice often adopt a top-down approach, envisioning formal equality and limited representative democracy as the ultimate goals. However, these frameworks in established liberal democracies frequently fall short, as women remain marginalized in political arenas and gender disparities persist across social, economic, and cultural dimensions. The liberal distinction between public and private spheres, not only leaves many forms of gender-based violence unpunished, but also perpetuates the marginalization of women by ignoring the interconnected nature of public and private inequalities.
Recognizing abuses in the private sphere without discrimination, adding them in the reporting process, and adapting legal structures where women can raise their voices and tell their experiences are important measures to address these forms of violence. These reforms would help to reduce the gap between public and private spheres, ensuring that efforts for gender equality are complete and attend to the root causes of inequality and violence against women.
1.2.4. Empowering Women in Transitional Justice: Beyond Victims to Active Agents
Another approach within feminist scholarship is the recognition that emphasizing women's sexual victimization further marginalizes their roles as political agents in post-conflict societies. Women in conflict settings are not solely victims, they are also survivors, resisters, combatants, and political activists. It is crucial to realize that women in these situations do not exclusively identify themselves based on their victimization, yet international criminal law often recognizes them only as victims. This new approach rejects the “essentialism” that categorizes women solely as victims and advocates for transforming these narratives.
Research shows that whilst important, the attention directed at sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) detracts focus from other forms of gendered violence that occur. In 2018, SGBV accounted for approximately 90% of the references to women’s rights in reports on transitional peace processes. While it is significant to address sexual violence, the narrative to focus just on women as victims reduces women to mere sexual beings, reinforcing perceptions of passivity and silencing other aspects of their experiences. The narrow focus on sexual violence distracts the attention from wider systemic challenges such as unequal socioeconomic rights and gender-based violence after war, in this way reinforcing rather than challenging gender stereotypes. A key strategy proposed by feminists is to actively involve women in the transitional justice process. This means placing women in decision-making roles, including them in crafting agreements and shaping the legal system. In doing so, it would be possible to address the violences women endure without subjecting them to revictimization. When women lead these processes, it not only changes perspective but also reflects the role women have to place in society. After examining the multiple issues where women have been disproportionately affected, the next section will explore how transitional justice mechanisms could be designed to address these issues from a feminist perspective.
2. Enacting Change: The Operationalization of Feminist Approaches in Justice Mechanisms
In this part, this article attends to operationalizing certain concepts and ideas in practical, actionable ways, which involves taking theoretical concepts into actions that can be applied in real contexts. A useful approach for conceptualizing transformative gender justice and developing practical implementation strategies is Nancy Fraser’s model of trivalent justice, which advocates for 'justice against structures' of inequality. The attainment of gender justice entails the realization of three interconnected elements: recognition, redistribution and representation. Recognition is the need to recognize, value, and validate women’s conflict experiences beyond victimization. Redistribution’s process ought to foster an equitable distribution of economic resources for both men and women. Finally, representation intends to encompass the active involvement of women in peace building processes (internal representation) as well as national, political, and economic life (external representation). In the following sections, the main focus will lie on the main transitional justice mechanisms: reparations, guarantees of non-repetition, truth commissions, and women’s participation in order to achieve Nancy Fraser’s model.
2.1 Reparations
Reparations aim to restore victims to their pre-violation state, an inherently unachievable goal. Through this mechanism, it would be possible to achieve redistribution by ensuring that economic resources are fairly distributed between men and women. Reparations have two main goals: they address past harms and help reintegrate individuals into society. Furthermore, the goal of reparations is to acknowledge the harm, establish responsibility and adopt measures that can contribute towards redress materially, symbolically and morally. As the Nairobi Declaration on Women’s and Girls’ Right to a Remedy and Reparation (2007) states, reparations must address the political and structural inequalities affecting women’s and girls' lives. However, many reparation programs have neglected women's specific needs, particularly regarding reproductive violence and socio-economic violations. Gender-sensitive reparations programs are crucial in post-conflict transitions and can transform women's lives. Therefore, it is essential to avoid gender discrimination in the design and implementation of such programs. Achieving due recognition for survivors involves four steps: recognizing rights violations, state acknowledgement of responsibility, recognizing resulting harms, and providing aid to subvert the “structures of subordination” that led to the violations.
Firstly, reparations must adopt a broader definition of “victim” to include a broader range of individuals. Women's voices have expanded the eligibility criteria for reparations, ensuring a more inclusive approach. Secondly, reparations should not be limited to restoring pre-conflict conditions, which were often patriarchal and discriminatory, they should face the specific outbreaks of violence women encounter on a structural level. Crucially, this is exemplified by indigenous women's organizations, who argue that material restitution alone would not benefit women who were denied land ownership rights or sexual-reproductive rights before the conflict. Therefore, three mechanisms to address systemic inequalities and socio-economic needs could include the following. First, proving housing, since allocating property specifically to women, could be one means of challenging gendered property laws. Secondly, compensation, which despite potentially being controversial, can promote women's agency through the adoption of a microfinance model. Microfinances ensure that women maintain control and are not dominated by male heads of households. Thirdly, economic development measures specifically addressed to women are essential, as the economy is often precarious after a conflict. Measures should include funds by the government to launch income-generating activities, ensure fair prices in the market, creation of jobs, and skills training for survivors, among others.
However, all these economic measures need to come from a redistributive approach, as highlighted by Andrew Fischer. He emphasizes that international funds frequently perpetuate neoliberal measures, failing to address class inequalities adequately. While neoliberal reforms typically focus on austerity and market liberalization, redistributive justice aims to make sure economic benefits are shared fairly across society, especially in post-conflict areas where resources are limited and stability is fragile. Furthermore, it is essential to provide health services to address the physical and mental health needs of the population. For example, survivors should have preferential access to free health services and psychosocial counselling within their communities, tailored to their specific context.
Finally, survivors require symbolic mechanisms to restore their dignity and receive a proper apology. Similarly, there is a general demand that the history of abuses should be included in school textbooks, monuments should be built, and the bodies of the disappeared people should be found. While these measures are significant, it is also necessary to prioritize tangible benefits that address the concrete needs of survivors. It is essential that the beneficiaries themselves actively participate in defining the priorities and design of these projects, always taking it into account the need to have an intersectional approach due to the multiple oppressive structures of society.
2.2. Guarantees of non-repetition
Guarantees of non-repetition in transitional justice must consider historical, economic, and social structures, determining how far back to trace the causal factors of violence and human rights violations. Guarantees of non-repetition are an effective mechanism because they encourage discussions about the deep-rooted gendered structural causes of violence. Additionally, these guarantees provide a means to address collective needs and work towards preventing future violence. It is necessary to extend the focus beyond security forces and courts to address patterns of exclusion, marginalization, discrimination, impunity, and problematic development patterns that exacerbate these issues. This approach aligns closely with the perspective of radical feminism, emphasizing the need to identify and address the root causes, particularly economic and social rights violations, through a bottom-up analysis. To address economic rights and their root causes, it is important to highlight again the redistributive justice model. This model advocates for progressive taxation and social welfare programs to ensure wealth redistribution. Additionally, it promotes inclusive economic policies that support local industries and small enterprises, creating jobs and increasing the economy. Moreover, investing in social infrastructure also helps to empower disadvantaged groups.
On top of that, this concept is connected to Nancy Fraser’s Model because it aims to achieve recognition and redistribution. The primary objective here is more particularized: indeed, it is aimed to identify specific patterns that predispose to further violations and concentrate efforts on mitigating these risks. A comprehensive review of all regulatory provisions (constitutional, civil criminal or administrative, and the provisions of traditional regulatory systems) should be undertaken to identify and amend those that are discriminatory against women. This is vital as legal reforms can have an immediate and significant impact by bringing sexual and reproductive violence to the forefront of the national agenda, transitioning from codification to implementation, and addressing the harms experienced by survivors. Beyond addressing sexual violence, legal reforms can also significantly impact inheritance and property ownership rights, among other measures. Legal measures would be ineffective if there were no reforms in the judicial system itself; it is crucial to ensure gender sensitivity through training for judges, or the creation of specialized units. Additionally, the states must ensure their responsibilities under international law, by applying the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW, 1979), the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995), The UN Model Strategies and Practical Measures on the Elimination of Violence against Women in the Field of Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, and the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000).
Another key feature of these guarantees are measures to prevent future abuses, as Ruth Rubio Marín analyses in her book “What Happened to the Women? Gender and Reparations for Human Rights Violations”, include: establishing effective civilian oversight of military and security forces, safeguarding human rights defenders, offering human rights education through campaigns by civil society and government, monitoring of enforcement agencies, and campaigns to redefine masculinity. Finally, all these measures have to include community groups to work together in the application of these guarantees, and to make sure the intersectionality approach is taken into account. By including different community groups, it is possible to make sure all people’s experiences are listened to, and the different discriminations are covered.
2.3. Truth and Reconciliation Commissions
Truth commissions have become a key institutional method for addressing historical injustices. However, these commissions are applicable based on their suitability for the context, if the conditions are favourable, and if the society demands it. Truth commissions are meant to document human rights violations, identify those responsible, and provide survivors a platform to share their experiences. Crucially, truth commissions initiate discussions on past injustices and influence educational materials and collective memory, adapting to meet specific community needs. Priorities must shift from merely addressing past abuses and creating historical accounts to focusing on the structural challenges and gendered spaces that impede women’s agency in these societies. Following Fraser’s Model, the main goal of this mechanism would be to investigate the different types of violence that women suffer and, subsequently, challenge the conventional divide between public and private spheres. Over time, there has been significant progress in integrating gender considerations into truth commissions. Initially, commissions in Latin America, like those in Argentina (1983-1984) and Chile (1990-1991), overlooked the importance of gender in their mandates. However, a shift occurred with the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (SATRC) from 1995 to 2000, which was the first to include specific hearings where women could share their stories and seek justice and reconciliation.
The gender sensitivity of truth commissions is defined by two components: visible inclusion of women and inclusion of a gender perspective. Ensuring the visible inclusion of women involves their active presence among truth commissioners, participants, and subjects of reports. Additionally, incorporating a gender perspective encompasses three key aspects: addressing gender-specific harms such as sexual violence, recognizing the diverse experiences and identities of women beyond just sexual violence, and considering the gendered roots of conflict and violence, reflecting on and acknowledging the ongoing nature of gendered violence.
To implement the feminist perspective in a truth commission’s work, it is necessary to treat gender both as a cross-cutting theme and a specific focal area in the truth-seeking process. Firstly, it is crucial to ensure the training, recruitment, and appointment of commission members and staff who are well-prepared and include women. Secondly, it is important to establish relationships with non-state actors, including women's groups to engage with civil society, and to develop support structures that include a dedicated gender unit, gender-sensitive witness protection, and psychosocial support services. Thirdly, a truth commission should ensure thorough reporting that includes dedicated chapters on women's experiences from an intersectionality approach and incorporates gender analysis throughout the entire document. Finally, a comprehensive “how-to” guide on gender integration is useful, but the complexities of gendered human rights abuses demand context-specific analysis and strategies. Effective integration requires full engagement from commission staff across all departments. Hearings should be diverse—public, in-camera, individual, and thematic. Additionally, broader reforms should be proposed to ensure the commission's long-term legacy is responsive to women’s history and their quest for reform.
2.4. Empowering Women in Transitional Justice: Beyond Victims to Active Agents
Following Nancy Fraser’s model, representation constitutes a crucial factor to achieving feminist justice, as it would increase women’s agency. Agency refers to the ability to consent, dissent, or negotiate to influence and change the existing state of affairs. This capacity can range from reactive to proactive actions and can be exercised in both formal political arenas and informal everyday settings, including women's daily lives. Women serve as agents of accountability, social change and duty-bearers. Another approach within feminist scholarship is the recognition that emphasizing women's sexual victimization further marginalizes their roles as political agents in post-conflict societies.
Additionally, echoing Wendy Harcourt's insights, justice cannot be imposed from above nor can communities be merely 'trained' or 'given capacity' as many external interventions attempt. Instead, it is crucial to foster strong, collaborative partnerships with communities, build direct personal relationships, and establish trust. Viewing the delivery of justice as a shared endeavour between external agents and local communities is essential for meaningful and sustainable change. This approach ensures that women are seen and engaged not just as survivors of conflict, but as crucial political agents in post-conflict recovery and rebuilding.
In accordance with the research from the United Nations Women Gender Justice Platform, to ensure women’s meaningful participation in transitional justice, the following key lessons must be incorporated. First, accommodating intersectionality is essential to address the diverse experiences of women. Transparent and inclusive selection processes are crucial to build trust and legitimacy. Efforts must grapple with existing male power structures to create space for women’s voices. Participation should occur both before and after implementation to ensure ongoing engagement. The timing of transitional justice processes significantly impacts women’s participation, and they should have opportunities to engage across all stakeholder typologies. Understanding the gendered social context and grounding transitional justice in local women’s needs and priorities are imperative. Continuous women-inclusive participatory dialogue should be integrated across all phases.
III. Conclusion
“It’s important that we just continue soldiering on because there is no choice. There is no choice, I mean, we can’t just give up.”
(anonymous)
Feminist approaches to transitional justice offer more than a gendered perspective, they present a transformative vision for how societies can rebuild after conflict. By questioning dominant legal and political frameworks, feminist thought expands our understanding of justice to include social, economic, and cultural dimensions. These perspectives challenge structural inequalities, emphasize intersectionality, and call for justice processes that are inclusive, participatory, and rooted in lived experience.
While the integration of feminist principles into transitional justice remains an ongoing and often difficult process, it is essential for building sustainable peace. Achieving genuine equality requires more than policy reforms, it demands a reimagining of the systems that uphold injustice. Continuing to centre women's voices, experiences, and agency is not only a matter of representation, it is fundamental to create more equitable and resilient societies in the aftermath of violence. Without a feminist lens, transitional justice will always fall short of true justice.
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About the author:
María Prieto Sánchez holds a Double Degree in European and Spanish Law from Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and Maastricht University. She is currently pursuing two master's degrees: one in Access to the Legal Profession and another in Human Rights and Democratization at the Global Campus of Human Rights.
Her experience includes working as a research assistant, interning at the Human Rights Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and volunteering with NGOs focused on combating gender-based violence.
