Seven years of conflict has profoundly affected the women in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Throughout the years of fighting, Congo ’s economy has been decimated, infrastructure has been destroyed and violence has driven out investment and business. More than two million people are internally displaced. Sixteen million people are suffering from a critical food shortage, and thousands have already died from a lack of food, clean water, medicine and shelter. Many women have also lost male relatives to the war and are now left to support their families.
In addition to the lack of basic necessities and humanitarian aid, women and girls have endured unspeakable horrors as a result of the conflict in the Congo. Women have been victims of war, murder, torture and mutilation, forced migration, starvation, rape and sexual violence.
Girls as young as five and women as old as eighty have been subjected to rape and other forms of sexual violence. Some have then been murdered, while others are left to die from their injuries. Rape has been consistently perpetrated by most parties to the conflict, and as military activities increased throughout the region, so did the sexual violence and other crimes against women. In some cases, rape was used by warring parties as a tool of war in a general attack to terrorize villages and communities; in other cases, individuals or small groups of soldiers and combatants have raped women and girls they found in the fields, forests, along the roads or in their homes.
Women have been profoundly affected by rape and sexual violence. Those who survive the attacks will be affected by the physical and psychological effects throughout their lifetime. Many have refused to seek medical attention for fear of being stigmatized. Others who sought out medical assistance have found that there is nowhere to receive it. A significant number of women have become pregnant, and are now struggling to support their children. Thousands of women have contracted sexually transmitted diseases, especially HIV/AIDS, and have no option for assistance or treatment. Some women and girls have been rejected by their husbands, families and communities because they were raped and are thought to be infected with HIV/AIDS.
Despite the suffering women in Congo have endured, the long term peace and prosperity of the country may depend in part on the ability of these women to rebuild their lives and their communities. However even before the war, women were considered second-class citizens in Congo; the law as well as social norms defined the role of women and girls as subordinate to men. Even though women are often a major – if not the only – source of support for the family, Congo Family Code requires them to obey their husbands who are recognized as the head of household. In the past, the very large families that are the norm in the culture limited women’s options for independence. Now, women are often widowed or otherwise on their own, faced with supporting their families. |
