Vanessa Chang reflects on the terrible effects of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and how we are working with our partners to help survivors recover.
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is an extremely wealthy country, similar in size to Western Europe and abundant in minerals and natural resources, such as gold, diamonds, cobalt and zinc. However, this blessing has been a curse for the people of DRC as its wealth has never been used for their own benefit. Instead DRC’s riches have attracted vicious warlords, colonial forces, corrupt governments and corporations which have created divisions and pitted different ethnic groups against each other.
Despite the war – one of the deadliest conflicts since World War II – officially ending in 2003, the eastern part of DRC still remains very unstable. Since the genocide in neighbouring Rwanda in 1994, rape has been used more and more by rebel groups as a weapon of war. It is not so much an opportunistic act but rather a deliberate tactic used to destroy families and communities.
Today DRC and particularly the eastern part is known as the rape capital of the world with an average of 40 females being raped every day – victims range from young children to elderly women. Attacks are so brutal that some victims are left with permanent damage to their digestive and reproductive systems. Many women are also infected with HIV and fall pregnant.
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Victims of sexual violence receive no help from the government and are unable to gain access to legal or medical care. In addition, trauma from these violent crimes destroys community and family life and many women are ostracized from their communities or rejected by their husbands and families who cannot deal with the shame. In other words, victims of sexual violence, are left to fend for themselves as well as deal with the trauma from a harrowing experience.
Rachel Widuhaye, 23
My name is Rachel Widuhaye. I am 23 years old.
Thirty soldiers came to my village. They came to take our children to become soldiers and to rape the women and take us to their camp. Eight soldiers took turns raping me and cutting me until I lost consciousness. They took me to their camp and I became the commandant’s wife for three months. I finally escaped one day when the commandment sent me out to collect wood.
Because of such long periods of illness and suffering, survivors live in indescribable poverty. It seems like an added punishment on top of everything they have already been through.
But CAFOD is working in partnership with the Catholic Church in DRC to provide a strong network of support for victims of sexual violence. With our church partners, we decided to include income generating activities to support these courageous women to produce and restart taking care of their families. 191 women benefited from the first round of the programme last year.
In the eastern part of the country (Bukavu, Bunia and Kasongo), we are also funding Commission Diocesaine Justice et Paix (CDJP) to fight sexual violence. CDJP have 6 listening centres in Bukavu, 2 listening centres in Bunia and 3 listening centres in Kasongo. From here victims of sexual violence are able to access legal assistance and counselling to deal with their trauma – services which otherwise they may never receive. Another important aspect of CDJP’s work is their family mediation activities, during which men are encouraged to reconcile with and support their wife in the aftermath of her brutal attack.
Therese Mema Mapenzi, who works for our partner CDJP Bukavu says, “In our surroundings, for a woman to manage to say that she has been raped is a work that takes a lot of time. Many women hide themselves because of fear of being stigmatised by members of the community.”
In the last 3 years the listening centres have offered counselling to more than 6622 women. Last year, it became clear that children who were born from rape were also experiencing their own problems. As they are not recognised as Congolese they have suffered exclusion from family and community life as well as not being eligible for schooling. With CAFOD’s funding, CDJP has managed to register 182 children as Congolese which means they can grow up and participate in community life in a more meaningful way.
About the Author: Vanessa Chang is CAFOD’s Africa Liaison Administration Officer for DRC, Rwanda, Burundi and Niger.
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it is appalling that “our” media and politicians “sex-up” Islamism whilst, in the DRC and Rwanda etc ( virtually no Muslims, by the way) humanity especially its female half, is crucified remorselessly and comparatively silently .
It is naturally, easier for us to play the big man and go and zap a few ragheads than it is to try to help the suffering people of ex-colonial countries where the aftermath of colonisation has undoubtedly been a factor in social disruption and moral decay.
We must thank CAFOD for its brave people, and work for the recognition of the projects described here. Money wouldn’t solve everything overnight, but the $1 trillion spent last year on arms in the world could go some of the way to correct massive societal aberrations , above all in Africa.