Globalaffairs

Issue 15/June-July 2009
by Erica L. Green

For over a decade, UN troops have been fighting to maintain peace in the volatile Democratic Republic of the Congo in Central Africa. Since an influx of refugees and from a neighboring country and several wars in 1996 and 1998, the government and relations on the eastern border of the Congo have been unsteady. The conflict in this region has gone largely undetected by the rest of the world, yet has surmounted a substantial number of casualties. A 60 Minute report aired in August of 2008 noted that the regional death toll has already reached five million. These numbers surpass the casualties of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Darfur combined (1). Human rights advocates note that even though much of the struggle is over the acquisition and selling of Congolese natural resources, one common foe has become women.

Sexual violence within the context of war is not a new phenomenon. Traditionally rape has been a form of diversion for bored troops. The difference with rape in the Congo, according to Anneka Van Woudenberg, Human Rights Watch spokesperson, is the high incidence and brutality. Within the past 10 years the number of rapes incidents are estimated in the thousands (1) and is increasing. In the first quarter of 2009 alone the Congolese authorities have registered a staggering 493 new rape cases (2). However, many estimate the actual number to be much higher because many occurrences go unreported.

The UN also finds that the current rate may double or even triple the total number of cases reported last year (2). Also, as seen in neighboring countries the method of assault is often gang rape which destroys the woman and her family lineage, thus is not mere recreation for the man. The perpetrators do not discriminate by age nor disability and the outcome often leaves the victim infected with HIV, pregnant, or with fistulas that make control of bodily functions difficult. The youngest rape survivor on record treated at Panzi Hospital near Bukavu was three years old, while the oldest was 75 years. The BBC News reports of an 11 month old baby who died the day after her sexual assault (3).

Heal Africa is a non-government organization in the city of Goma located within the Congo’s eastern region. This hospital is the only free clinic in Goma and the only facility in the region that specializes in fistula injuries as a result of rape. Their multidisciplinary health care team offers an array of resources and services to women survivors. I had the privilege of going to Goma for a tour of Heal Africa. I was moved by the compassion of the staff and their tireless desire to care for women in crisis. The healing process can take some time depending of the severity of the physical and emotional trauma. While the women are in recovery, they are offered case management and vocational training so that they might find employment and resume normalcy as much as possible upon discharge of the hospital.

Even if women are able to recover from the physical wounds associated with sexual violence, the battle has only begun. Many women find returning to their families and integrating back into their communities to be a difficult transition. The gang rapes were often public so there is often great shame and humiliation when returning home. There is shame for the woman to be violated physically and there is shame for the men in the household for failing to protect their loved ones. Depending on the woman’s HIV status, pregnancy or other factors, the likelihood of her being abandoned by her husband is quite high. Despite these challenges, some rural Congolese villages are finding that survivors of rape are becoming the majority of their female population.

One survivor reported to BBC news that her attack began randomly and ended as mercilessly. She was walking home after buying a sack of corn from the market. She was stopped by four armed men who demanded that she put down her sack and strip naked. She was then sexually assaulted by each one, one at a time. She recalled her perpetrators saying nothing to her at that point. They only communicated to each other: spurring each other on and negotiating their turn in line.

Another survivor account was told to 60 minutes. This woman was at home with her family when five armed men stormed into her house. The men took turns assaulting her and insisted that her brother hold the flashlight to assist. Later, the brother was told to join in but he refused. The armed men then stabbed the brother multiple times in the stomach to his death. The woman was then led to the camp of the men and was held captive for 8 months during which she was raped daily.

Vocational training can be a matter of life and death for women survivors of rape. Many of these women do not find husbands because of their rape and are forced to find alternative methods of economic stability for themselves and any children in their care. Programs like Heal Africa offer income generation training that teach women to sew and marketable skills. However, they like many other organizations in the region struggle with a high volume of clientele and limited funding to support their services. Many of these programs are trying to find innovative ways to market their products, but this also takes a significant amount of time and limited resources.

The war in the D.R. Congo has been long and is far from over. The healing process of rape is a war in itself which many suffer helplessly in silence with no recourse. Popular films like Oscar nominated The Reader challenge the viewer with the question of who is responsible to act during such large scale atrocities and why they are not. Is it that they do not know these events are occurring or is it that they choose not to act? …Or is it that do we choose not to know? While some wrestle with these questions, others wait for help to arrive, while for others it’s too late.

Erica L. Green
MA, MPH, CADC
Graduate Student in Clinical Psychology
Argosy University

1. 60 Minutes, War against Women. The Use of Rape as A Weapon In Congo’s Civil War. August 17, 2008.
2.Congo News Channel Blog, UN reports rapes, surges of killings in Congo. May 30, 2009.
3. BBC News. DR Congo child rape victim dies. November 29, 2007.

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