In times of war everyone becomes a victim, however children suffer more than anyone, and girls face an even graver fate than their male counter parts. Sexual Violence against girls is heightened in times of war, the degree of violence deepened. The Democratic Republic of Congo is no exception; in fact the DRC may truly be one of the scariest places on earth to be a woman.
The use of rape to terrorize and punish those who are in support of the “wrong side”, has continued throughout the Congo's long and bloody war-torn history. Fear has become a daily emotion for women and girls, as the numbers of rape victims continue to rise, since the end of the Second Congo War, becoming a common feature of Congolese daily life.
Why does rape in the Congo continue? The increase in sexual violence is directly linked to the increase in rebel activity, and is only compounded by both national and international impunity of the crime. While in 2006 the government did pass stronger laws to punish offenders of sex crimes, the effect of these laws has been minimal, as women and girls continue to be raped and assaulted in mass and impunity continues to reign for the perpetrators.
The use of rape as a weapon is one of the most violent and humiliating offenses inflicted on the enemy, the brutalization of rape permanently scars the victim's mind, soul and often body. The World Health Organization (WHO) claims that violence against females is the cause of more death or disability, for girls and women aged 15 to 44, than that of cancer, malaria, traffic injuries and general warfare combined. Tens of thousands of rapes were recorded by the UN in the eastern provinces of North and South Kivu, however the majority of victims do not seek medical treatment, thus the real number of victims looks to be in the hundreds of thousands. While the scale at which the use of rape has been utilized in the Congo is alarming, what is even more disturbing is the brutal way that the rapes are carried out, as women are often raped even more violently with objects such as guns and sticks. Women and girls are often brutally murdered following their rapes, children are ripped from their arms and even unborn infants are cut from the womb. The age of victims is in its own right disparaging, as many are only children, some only toddlers, many of which endure countless rapes as they are held in sexual slavery by their captors.
As the violence in the Congo continues the lives of the countries women and girls continue to be plagued with fear. As long as impunity continues rapes will remain the weapon of choice for all too many combatants, for its effectiveness far outweighs the price of a bullet.
For more information please see my previous post on the use of rape as a weapon of war here.
