Godeliève Mukasarasi

Godeliève Mukasarasi (born 1959) is a Rwandan social worker, genocide survivor, and rural development activist. She created the organization Sevota to support widowed women and their children after the genocide. In 2018, she was given an International Women of Courage award for her work.

Background and activism Mukasarasi was born in Gitarama, Muhanga District, where she went on to work as a social worker.

In 1996, her husband, Emmanuel Rudasingwa, and daughter were killed by an armed band. Mukasarasi was intimidated, but she found four people who were willing to testify. She was given an International Women of Courage Award in 2018 for this and other work.

Recognition Mukasarasi's work has won other national and international awards. In October 1996, she was given the Prize for Women's Creativity in Rural Life from the Women's World Summit Foundation, and she has also received the Nzambazamariya Vénéranda Award, a Rwandan prize for an individual promoting a positive image for women. In 2004, she was awarded the John Humphrey Freedom Award of the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development, which came with a cash grant of C$30,000 and allowed Mukasarasi to go on a speaking tour of Canadian cities to promote her work. Kathleen Mahoney, the chairperson of the centre's board, stated in a press release that “through her courage, her enthusiasm and her unwavering commitment, [Mukasarasi] has succeeded in gaining the trust of victims of rape and sexual violence, particularly women who contracted HIV-AIDS, as well as in breaking the silence and in helping these women obtain justice."