without substantively involving civil society, female decision makers in the executive, legislature and judiciary as well as female survivors of violent conflict. When women’s voices and experiences do not inform transitional justice, mechanisms designed to deal with the legacy of violence, the result can be processes that exclude women from attaining meaningful justice for violations committed against them. While blanket amnesties for perpetrators have been utilised in some countries in the interest of peacebuilding, this can deny women from obtaining justice, psychosocial and socioeconomic support and other forms of redress, including reparations. Vulnerabilities faced at the communal and state level by women in times of peace, however fragile, become aggravated by breakdown in law and order, insecurity and a climate of impunity that has a deleterious effect on the bodily integrity of women and girls. The use of sexual violence as a warfare tactic has become prevalent, in addition to the socio-economic harm’s women suffer. A formal acknowledgement of the harms they suffer is not enough if it doesn’t result in equal rights to seat at the negotiating table and negotiate terms that include reparations, transitional justice and transformative political representation in post conflict situations. Women’s participation in peacebuilding is an issue of accountability and beyond that, women are their best spokespersons. The 2010 Report of the Panel of the Wise on Mitigating Vulnerabilities of Women and Children in Armed Conflicts illustrated the targeted use of rape as a war strategy , while in Sierra Leone, women were forcefully conscripted as combatants, and sex slaves.242These unfortunate trends have been evidenced in other conflict affected countries including Uganda, Nigeria, Chad and Niger. The Kampala Convention obligates states to put in place measures for IDPS to have access to psychosocial assistance and social services, where required. Psychosocial support is a critical aspect of health care that is often overlooked due to lack of appropriate emphasis, services and resources. Without dealing with past legacies of survivors and ex-combatants as well as relatives of victims, troubled pasts can reignite tensions that underwrite conflicts. In some countries, women have found a way to deal with their troubled pasts and engage in reconciliatory practices as illustrated below 242 AU Peace and Security Council ‘Programme on Women, Gender, Peace and Security’ May 2016. Available at http://www.peaceau.org/en/page/80-women-gender-peace-and-security-1 83