Rape as a weapon of war in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo
The Issue
Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is one of the worst places in the world to be a girl or a woman. In the on-going conflict, young girls and women are often raped when fleeing from their homes or simply going about their daily lives.
The Eastern Congo has been at the centre of a civil war since 1996. Rape is a tactic used by armed groups to humiliate, frighten, and destroy individuals, families, and communities. Various rebel groups, and sometimes even members of the Congolese army, have engaged in mass rapes, to intimidate the population. According to UNICEF, more than 200,000 women and girls are reported to have been raped over the past 12 years.
Local health-centre statistics report that an average of 40 women are raped every day in just two provinces. Of these, 13% of victims are under 14 years old, 3% die as a result of rape, and 10-12% contract HIV.
When such horrific violence occurs repeatedly and intentionally, it is very hard to understand how to stop it. Yet it is critical that the world responds to this problem, to help bring peace and healing.
What World Vision is Doing
For the past 20 years, World Vision has been active in bringing relief in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We continue to monitor the situation and respond. Activities include:
- Supporting projects that provide clean water close to communities. Fetching water is a task traditionally done by women and girls, but often means walking long distances and being in danger of attacks along the way. By providing an accessible source of water, we ease this burden on women and girls, and help make them safer. A water supply project in the community of Mataba saw cases of rape decrease by 80 per cent.
- Running support programs for girls and women who have been raped, including building supportive communities around them. This is extremely important because rape victims can be rejected even by their own families and communities.
- Training the army and local police about human rights and the need for specific attention to the victims of rape and sexual violence.
- Supporting a child “parliament,” a forum where children formulate solutions for the problems in their country and advocate for those in need.
Until there is lasting peace in the Eastern Congo, however, families will continue to live in fear and poverty. So World Vision is working with governments to make the Eastern Congo a safer place. Specifically:
- World Vision has spoken with the Canadian government, asking for much stronger protection of civilians in the Eastern Congo, especially the protection of children and women.
- The United Nations has a peacekeeping mission in the Eastern Congo. World Vision has asked for there to be more United Nations personnel who can focus on the protection of civilians, especially the protection of children and women.
- World Vision has also asked for further training of the police and army, so that they can place a high priority on protecting civilians, when they are responding to armed groups
What You Can Do
