As the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was constituted in terms of a provision of the Interim Constitution of 1993, there were concerns that the Commission would adopt a gender-neutral position in its enquiry into the occurrence of gross human rights violations in accordance with the principle of equality as entrenched in the Constitution.

This would mean that specific forms of oppression and repression that were directed at women, or could only be directed at women with the desired effect, would not be recognized, and that in consequence a highly skewed and incomplete picture of the gross human rights violations would emerge from this approach.

Therefore in March 1996, immediately prior to the TRC commencing its operations, the Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS) at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg convened a workshop entitled 'Gender and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission'.

The participants were women from all walks of life.

The result of the workshop was an in-depth submission to the TRC, which warned, that by adopting a gender-neutral attitude, the Commission would be falling prey to a basic flaw in the truth-finding process, namely that accepting the premise that abuse and violations of human rights can be gender-neutral.

The TRC took this critique seriously and agreed to CALS' proposal for special women's hearings which were subsequently held in Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg. Prior to the special hearings on women, the TRC also organized two workshops with women's groups and the representatives of the media to brainstorm ways and methods of bringing women into the TRC process.

The two researchers who spearheaded this particular discourse, and put 'gender' squarely onto the agenda of the TRC are Beth Goldblatt, a researcher in the CALS Gender Research Project, and Sheila Meintjies, a lecturer in Political Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand.

Together they prepared a second submission on the situation of women. Meintjies presented the submission at the special hearing on women.

Their publications which form part of the collection document the research conducted for the compilation of the submission to the TRC.