Voice is an important topic in the media's coverage of the exhibit. Ugandan and Canadian news media represent Grace Acan and Evelyn Amony as “breaking the silence” about their experiences. The Winnipeg Free Press characterize Acan and Amony as "outspoken." This framing falls in line with popular representations of other survivors of sexual violence who are speaking out about their experiences and their needs for justice and reparations.  

The artefacts featured in the exhibit are evidence supporting Acan's and Amony's stories. Ugandan-based New Vision, which covered the exhibit’s launch at the Uganda National Museum in December 2019, notes the “clothes, books, and other items” featured in the traveling exhibit. The artefacts represent the everyday and material realities of Acan and Amony before, after, and during their time in captivity. The artefacts also memorialize personal, regional, and national histories. By memorializing Acan’s and Amony’s experiences the exhibit helps “send a universal message that the voices of women in war matters” (Acan quoted in The Independent, 2019).

In this YouTube video annotation on the right, CMHR curator Isabelle Masson explains the process of selecting artefacts and Grace Acan explains the significance of the blue sweater featured in the exhibit.

The artefacts also provide a way for Amony and Acan to discuss forced pregnancies, bearing children and giving birth while in captivity. Although “the guns are silent” and the region is considered in a post-conflict period, survivors challenge the notion that the war is over and point to the multi-generational impacts of the war within families and communities (Acan quoted in Bunting, 2019).

When speaking about her daughter, whom she was separated from during a military ambush, Evelyn Amony shares that, “Other women in the world are still crying for their daughters […] My daughter is still missing […] I still have hope for her.” Evelyn Amony to Carol Sanders, Winnipeg Free Press.

Journalists picked up on the fact that for Acan and Amony and for many others, the conflict does not end simply because they have returned. Ismaila Alfa states that “It is not over at that point in time [when you return after captivity], because now you have to get used to life back in Uganda as well.”