When Italian photographer Gianmarco Maraviglia put together a portrait series of women in Rwanda, he set out to examine the incredible power of the human spirit after tragedy and how a society can remake itself dramatically.
"I decided to make this story when I read that Rwanda is the country with the highest number of females in the parliament," Maraviglia told BuzzFeed News. "It was just one line, but I understood the incredible potential of this issue. I'm always interested in story that are consequences of something, and this was a direct consequence of the genocide."
The high rate of women in parliament does stem from the carnage of Rwanda's 1994 genocide, which left an estimated more than half a million people dead. After he was elected in 2000, Rwandan President Paul Kagame mandated that 30% of the parliament be made up of women and the decision adopted formally in 2003. Today, 64% of seats are held by women.
Nearly 25 years after the genocide, Rwanda is among the fastest-growing economies in Africa and — though there are concerns that Kagame is stifling political opposition against him — the status of women in the parliament is reflected in other parts of society.
"Rwanda is often considered the Switzerland of Africa, and if we think that there are women in all the key positions, we have to say that they are doing really great in managing their country," Maraviglia said.
"All those people faced incredible pain in their life; in '94 there happened something that we cannot really understand," Maraviglia said.
"The most surprising thing has been to realize how wide and real was this change has been. Women are really in all aspects of society, in high position, and they are totally aware of their role. There is pride in all of them."
