A total of 20 out of 80 seats were set aside for women, and there are posts throughout various levels of government charged with addressing women’s concerns as well as providing training in gender awareness (Mzvondiwa 2007). Some of the reasons for emphasising women’s inclusion in post-war governance structures stem from the same essentialist arguments outlined above, namely that women are more naturally oriented toward forgiveness and reconciliation, as well as the argument that since they were most affected by the violence, they would be most likely to want to work to overcome it (Powley 2003). Thus, Rwanda shows that essentialist-based arguments can nevertheless result in increased inclusion of women in political participation.