SEXUAL VIOLENCE BASED ON GENDER IN R.D.C

Our country has been used to wars and armed conflicts since 1997 to the present day and for the most part, the acts of sexual violence and gender-based violence are due to this war situation and repeated conflicts.

The situation is that virtually all parties involved in the various armed conflicts in DRC have committed sexual violence and gender-based violence.

When acts of violence are linked to a political and military purpose, these acts constitute the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war.

A high percentage of gang rapes was noted, ranging to 5 perpetrators for a single victim. The victims are mostly women and girls aged between 5 and 60 years old and over.

Acts of sexual and gender-based violence have not been repressed in R.D.C, which is why these acts occur from day to day in time and space.

Reasons for rape done to women and girls:

    There are girls and women who are raped because of their ethnic origin and thus suspected of supporting rebels from their ethnic group,
    The rape of women as punishment.

Aggravating circumstances of the rapes:

    The rapes committed in public, in front of the family members of the victim, and the members of his community, one can even ask a father to rape his own daughter and if he refuses he is directly killed,
    The gang rapes sometimes involving several attackers on the victim,
    Rape of very young girls, including children who are not more than 10 years old,
    The rapes of girls enlisted in armed groups and their sexual exploitation by the commanders of these groups,
    The forced marriage of women to combatants,
    Hijacking girls and women for sexual slavery against their will for long periods of time ...

Apart from these conflicts-related violence we can mention:

    Rape as well as sexual abuse and exploitation against women, girls in extreme vulnerability,
    Early marriages because parents want dowries,
    Girls who are raped but can not tell for fear of being marginalized and unwanted pregnancies may follow with their implications,
    Women killed by their husbands without any pursuit;
    These wars have left widows and by culture they can not remarry or return home. Sometimes some have died because their executioners wanted to recover their property,
    As I speak to you, an 8-year-old girl has just been raped by a 54-year-old policeman and family member. Unfortunately the latter, after being caught, shot himself.

Consecrated impunity:

Armed conflict has created an environment where the perpetrators of violence have enjoyed almost total impunity because of dysfunctional institutions in general and justice in particular.

Conclusions and recommendations:

In order to bring justice to the thousands of victims of such violence and to secure a future where women and girls enjoy the rights and dignity they enjoy, it is the responsibility of the DRC authorities, with the support of the international community, to institute and urgently implement judicial, political, psychosocial, economic and educational measures to protect and promote their rights.

Acts of sexual violence require special attention from all decision makers and at all levels. The perpetrators of such violence must be brought to justice and reparations granted to the victims. Projects in the direction of capacity building in the holistic care of victims.