How was rape used as a means of genocide in Rwanda?

During the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, rape was systematically employed as a weapon of war and a tool of destruction against the Tutsi population.12

The Hutu-led government and extremist militias, such as the Interahamwe, organized and recruited men—specifically those known to be infected with HIV/AIDS—to carry out these sexual assaults. This strategy was intended to inflict profound physical and psychological trauma, intentionally spreading HIV/AIDS among Tutsi women as part of the broader campaign to exterminate the ethnic group.12

The international community eventually recognized these atrocities as a grave violation of human rights. In a landmark 1998 ruling, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda established that rape and sexual violence constituted acts of genocide, marking a pivotal moment in international law regarding the prosecution of sexual violence as a war crime.1