Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, Vol 28(4), Nov 2022, 429-436; doi:10.1037/pac0000600
Following an 11-year civil war, Sierra Leone implemented transitional justice to address years of repression and massive human rights violations. As an improvement to the South Africa transitional justice model, the Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission (SLTRC) incorporated gender in its mandate to address women’s peculiar experiences of war. Despite the presence of women at the commission, however, women remain marginalized in postconflict Sierra Leone, and many of the recommendations of the truth commission have not been implemented. This article argues that the lack of success of the commission and transitional justice in advancing the status of women in Sierra Leone is due to the “one-fits-all” model of transitional justice that does not cater to local dynamics. This article, therefore, argues for a phenomenological approach that caters to local women’s experiences for meaningful transitional justice. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)