Addressing Rape in the Congo
Countries: Democratic Republic of the Congo
Congo has the world's biggest deposits of gold, copper, diamonds, and tin. Its dramatic mountain landscapes once inspired Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn’s romantic saga in The African Queen.
But that was before Congo’s internal conflicts drove foreign investors and tourists out of the region, dramatically reducing economic output and government revenue.
In the last decade, more people have died in the DRC than in Iraq, Afghanistan and Darfur combined. Political initiatives by Africa, the West and the UN — including the deployment of more UN peacekeeping troops than any other nation in the world — has failed to stop the fighting and protect the lives of Congolese civilians.
If there's a bright spot, it's that humanitarians are highlighting what UN officials call the "worst sexual violence in the world."
In the last ten years, hundreds of thousands of women have been raped. But it received little recognition from the government and there were few prosecutions. Now, European aid agencies and the UN are spending millions of dollars building courthouses and prisons to punish rapists. Mobile courts are holding rape trials in the hard-to-reach villages. And the government is paying for Congolese investigators to travel to Europe to learn "CSI"-style forensic techniques.
The results are seen in towns like Bunia, where rape prosecutions have increased 600 percent in five years. There are organizations like Women for Women, which teaches rape survivors how to read and write, cook, make soap and other skills that could empower them to be financially independent. Grassroots campaigns are encouraging rape victims to speak out in open forums.
These signs provide some hope that amid Congo's chaos, there's at least a chance for positive change.
Digg
Facebook
Google Buzz
LinkedIn
StumbleUpon
Twitter
Printer-friendly version
Comments
American Bar Association in the Congo
I really recommend that people take a minute to read Jeffrey Gettleman's article, "Rape Victims’ Words Help Jolt Congo Into Change" in the New York Times that you link to here. I found it particularly interesting that the American Bar Association has opened a legal clinic in the Congo to help rape victims bring their cases to trial. You can learn more about the American Bar Association's Congo program here. I had no idea that the American Bar Association was involved in such programs and I think it's fantastic.
It is pretty frightening that
It is pretty frightening that phrases like "hope amid Congo's chaos" can be used to refer to one of the worst epidemics of rape ever recorded. In a country where the police and military forces are as violent, if not more so, as documented criminals against those they are sworn to protect, how can any of these steps towards institutionalizing rape-prevention mechanisms be guaranteed to have any effect? What can be done in a country that has been ripped apart from the inside and out almost every decade since we began to consider it a comprehensive state? In DRC, violence has been a way of life since Europeans first began to journey into its heart - will "CSI-style forensic techniques" really have any impact in uprooting some of the despicable, yet quotidian, practices that have become a way of life? I don't know who could hope to answer that.
I agree, it's hard to see any
I agree, it's hard to see any hope in the Congo — as both government troops adn rebel forces continue to terrorize women and children. However, when I read about Congolese women holding a mass protest for peace and protection, I think the term "hope" is just about right.
...
Great site.
It is scary
To learn how they survive all the obstacles...it is quite scary ....yet the could smile at the end of the day.....i really admire their strong will and they really put their heart out....I hope they will be OK one day....
Post new comment