serve as preparation by giving the witness an idea of what is expected during the trial; • Badibanga then emphasised that, in this case, approaching victims ‘was a slow process with maximum safeguards’, which means that there many considerations to make about questioning victims – for instance, the issue of re-traumatisation and whether victims preferred to be interviewed by a man or a woman; and • Finally, Badibanga noted that as there is renewed conflict in the Central African Republic, this conflict makes it likely that the victims of the crimes in this case will be re-traumatised as they are more vulnerable and could be exposed again to the same kind of violence. dd DELPHINE DJIRAÏBÉ Chief Attorney, Public Interest Law Centre, N’Djamena Accountability for sexual gender-based violence in the Hissène Habré case at the Extraordinary African Chambers Djiraïbé, in her presentation, discussed the 2016 conviction of former Chadian president, Hissène Habré, at the Extraordinary African Chambers in Dakar, and the challenges, trauma and processes involved in including sexual violence charges in the case. In particular, she addressed the role of women and legal practitioners, their importance in the prosecution of sexual and gender-based violence, and the ways in which women can apply gender-sensitive approaches when dealing with survivors. Her presentation made special mention of the remarkable women who testified in Hissène Habré case and the courage this entailed. Djiraïbé described how she worked with women survivors of the police force responsible for much of the abuse in the course of the Habré presidency, the Documentation and Security Directorate (DDS). She described some of the difficulties in working with issues of sexual and gender-based violence in the Chadian context, in light of the fact that there are very few experts on sexual and genderbased violence in Chad. Despite the significant challenges, and the protracted trial, she noted how remarkable it was that justice prevailed, and that gender-based violence was included in the conviction. Djiraïbé noted the immense trauma that survivors went through in the process of testifying and during the investigations, and highlighted the risk of re-traumatisation involved in prosecution of sexual and gender-based violence. Additionally, she highlighted the prevalence of reprisal attacks by Hissène Habré supporters on those who testified. Despite this, she noted the courage and determination of those who testified. In her own words, ‘the women that we brought decided that they did not even want to hide their faces anymore, they wanted to look [Hissène Habré] in the eye and ask him why he did that to them’. In light of the significant trauma, Djiraïbé emphasised the importance of survivors’ working with women attorneys and investigators. She further highlighted the importance of building trust, and detailed the ways in which this was accomplished through sharing rooms and spending a lot of time together – moving the relationships beyond the attorney–client relationship to a trusting, shared space. As she put it: ‘Because this was a do or die situation, you were no longer a normal attorney doing your job, you are accompanying these women and sharing the social lives of the victims on a daily basis, it’s important to build trust so that they can open up and testify.’ Djiraïbé further highlighted the importance of the trial’s taking place outside of Chad, on account of limited trust in the Chadian justice system. She noted the insufficiency of legislation in Chad, specifically as it pertains to the definition of rape – which means that very few cases actually go before a judge, and often leads to protracted and unconcluded trials when they do. The trial’s location in Dakar, for Djiraïbé, provided a sense of confidence and protection for survivors and victims. She concluded by highlighting the importance of accountability and the danger of impunity in the fight against sexual and gender-based violence. 8\ Accountability for conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence: Successes, challenges, narratives, and omissions