Introduction and statement of research question
Sexual violence in the Republic of the Congo has been one of the most catastrophic feature of the armed conflict that began in 1996. Sexual violence is carried out by the militia groups to intimidate and punish communities and to control territory. Rape has been labelled as a ‘weapon of war’ in the Congo whereby the women’s bodies represent the battlefield. Rape and sexual torture have destroyed communities and have affected its survivors both physically and emotionally. According to Nolen, the Congo 's rape survivors face pain, shame and AIDS. According to the Human Security Report Project, the term sexual violence includes “forced prostitution; sexual slavery; forced impregnation; forced maternity;
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In 2011, Margot Wallstrom, the UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence described the Congo as “the rape capital of the world” and one of the most dangerous places to be a woman. About 200,000 rapes were reported from 1998 to 2009 (United Nations, 2010). According to UN, armed groups in the country including its workers sexually abused women and girls as young as six months old being committed by all armed groups in the country, including United Nations peacekeepers (Lynch, 2004). In 2007, a report submitted to the General Assembly found that serious abuses were occurring daily and being committed by armed forces, the police, and militarized non-government forces alike (Pacéré, 2007). After gang rapes, soldiers penetrate, inject hot plastics, close the labia entirely, or may even pull a trigger inside the genitalia (Falconberg, 2009). Between 2005 and October 2007, more than 32,000 cases of rape and sexual violence were registered in South Kivu alone, a number suspected to be less than half of all incidents (Holmes, 2007). In June 2008 alone, over 2,200 rapes were reported in the province of Nord Kivu (Lewis, 2008). Wartime rape may be devastating both to victims and perpetrators, causing psychological and physical harm(Cohen & Dara,2013). Documented consequences, includes trauma, shame, stigma, unwanted children, disease, and displacement, and has effects on the durability of postconflict (Cohen & Dara,
There was a war in Sierra Leone, Africa, from 1991 to 2002 where a rebel army stormed through African villages amputating and raping citizens left and right (“Sierra Leone Profile”). Adebunmi Savage, a former citizen of Sierra Leone, describes the reality of this civil war:
focused cognitive behavioral therapy for sexually exploited, war affected Congolese girls. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 52, 359-369.
Mukamana, Donatilla and Petra Brysiewicz. “The Lived Experience of Genocide Rape Survivors in Rwanda.” Journal of Nursing Scholarship. 40:4 (2008): 379- 384. Google Scholar. Web. 4 May 2014.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo, or as it has been called by the U.N as “the rape capital of the world” has been having problems since almost 1994. The armed group, M23, has committed dozens of war crimes including rape, citizen executions, and forced recruitment of children. Women, and girls have been left with burned flesh, broken bones, and even missing limbs. Even some perpetrators have even shot and stabbed these women in the vagina with shards of glass, rifles, and other objects. The violence in the DRC is unspeakable, many of the survivors have received devastating damage to their reproductive organs. Men have been held at gun point and forced to rape their own wives, mothers, sisters, and even their daughters. Throughout the entire ordeal, the government of the DRC has let many of the perpetrators of these war crimes cross over to neighboring countries, who act as a sanctuary. In turn these people have not been charged for these crimes. The Congolese army and government have been much to blame for the violence and atrocities happening in the country. Back when they made the M23 treaty, they needed to follow through with their promises to the integrated soldiers. The weaknesses in their government ruin attempts to prevent atrocities and protect civilians. With these problems affecting the population every day, they need to start getting help from other countries in order to fix its state and help its people. The Congolese army and government have been much to blame for the violence and atrocities happening in the country because they needed follow through with their promises to the integrated soldiers, the weakness in their government ruin attempts to prevent atrocities and protect civilians, and they need to stop lett...
"Uganda: Child Soldiers at Centre of Mounting Humanitarian Crisis." UN News Center. UN, n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2014.
Sexual abuse of women has become a trend in most civil wars. Rape is one of the most dangerous weapons today being used in civil wars against women. Some of the countries that have used genocidal rape as a weapon of war are Sierra Leone, Liberia and former Yugoslavia. The emotional hurt from sexual abuse leaves a deeper scar, strips away the dignity and identity of women. Genocidal rape was first recognized as weapon of war in 1992 in the former Yugoslavia and later in Rwanda because of the alarming number of women who were raped. During the three months of genocide in 1994 in Rwanda, 100,000 and 250,000 were sexually violated . Oftentimes women are traumatized from the experience. Rape as a weapon of war was and still is being used in both Congo and Rwanda genocides. Although the Congo and Rwanda genocides occurred at different times, the damages and pain inflicted on women through sexual abuse are the same. Rwanda genocide only lasted a short few months, but Congo genocide on the other hand lasted for over a decade and still is going on. Unfortunately Congo women are still experiencing the brutality and harshness of genocidal rape. In this paper I will examine:
In South Sudan, displaced women have reported incidences of violence such as sexual assault, rape and physical abuse by intimate partners (Kamau et al., 2004). It is reported that 16 women are raped in a day within the camps in South Sudan (Lancet, 2004, RCM, 2004).
The acts of violence that were performed by rebels in Africa were horrific. Adults and children were murdered, mutilated, tortured, and raped. The Revolutionary United Front (RUF) in Sierra Leone performed despicable acts of cutting off a people's body parts with machetes to instill fear in the community. If you were working in the diamond mines and not performing up to the standards of the rebels you would lose a body part as punishment. Rebels would continue to do this from one village to another in order “to take control of the mines in the area” (Hoyt). It is estimated that in Sierra Leone that over 20,000 people suffered mutilation. The acts that the rebels performed to these innocent victims was clearly a violation to their human rights. The RUF collected 125 million a year to fund their war on the government and the people of Sierra Leone.
In Canadian society, the numbers of sexually violent incidents in universities continue to grow. Every year, approximately 58.7% of first-year female students experience forms of sexual violence, a growing concern for universities (Senn et. al. Results). Women constantly say they will never be victims of sexual violence, yet studies show that one in four women have been sexually assaulted (Senn et. al. 2). Although sexual violence will never completely be resolved, the policies created by universities across Canada have proven to be ineffective when compared to student efforts. Also, Canadian universities lack a sufficient number of policies that address sexual violence and have a high number of sexual assaults, which demonstrate the ineffectiveness
The war was worsened by the wealthy minerals in the ground and the influence of the mineral was strengthened by the fear and displacement the war caused. The intertwining of these two destructive forces is seen in the story Salima is told by a man who bought her. In this he tells of a man who stuffed”...the coltan into his mouth to keep the soldiers from stealing his hard work, and they split his belly open with a machete”(31). Not only does this story show the harsh conditions the men are exposed to in war, but also it further demonstrates the hold coltan has on the minds of those who live in the Congo. The want for coltan leads to the destruction of the community and individual identities of those involved as it perpetuates a cycle of war that damages men, induces violence against women, and ultimately creates a cycle of lost identity.
These are the words of a 15-year-old girl in Uganda. Like her, there are an estimated 300,000 children under the age of eighteen who are serving as child soldiers in about thirty-six conflict zones (Shaikh). Life on the front lines often brings children face to face with the horrors of war. Too many children have personally experienced or witnessed physical violence, including executions, death squad killings, disappearances, torture, arrest, sexual abuse, bombings, forced displacement, destruction of home, and massacres. Over the past ten years, more than two million children have been killed, five million disabled, twelve million left homeless, one million orphaned or separated from their parents, and ten million psychologically traumatized (Unicef, “Children in War”). They have been robbed of their childhood and forced to become part of unwanted conflicts. In African countries, such as Chad, this problem is increasingly becoming a global issue that needs to be solved immediately. However, there are other countries, such as Sierra Leone, where the problem has been effectively resolved. Although the use of child soldiers will never completely diminish, it has been proven in Sierra Leone that Unicef's disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration program will lessen the amount of child soldiers in Chad and prevent their use in the future.
Sexual violence against children and adolescents is a major global health problem. According to data gathered by Save the Children and the agency’s experience in conflict-affected areas 80% of children living in areas of conflict or disaster are affected by sexual abuse, which is estimated to be over 30 million children. Additionally, likely perpetrators are from government armed forces and non-state armed forces and civilians (Save the Children Fund, 2013). Studies from Sierra Leone, Liberia, Haiti, Cote d’Ivoire Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Columbia and the Central Africa Republic estimate that between 52% and 70% of sexual violence cases involved mostly girls 18 years and younger although, boys can also be the victims of sexual violence (Save the Children Fund, 2013).
Violence against women: a ‘global health problem of epidemic proportions’ 20 JUNE 2013 | GENEVA
The United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women defines gender-based violence (GBV) as, “Any act…that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual, or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life.” It is also broadly defined as any harm to a person due to the power disparities caused by gender inequality. Gender based violence includes childhood sexual abuse, “prenatal sex selection in favor of boys, female infanticide, dowry deaths, honors killings ,female genital mutilation, trafficking and forced prostitution, forced early marriage, sexual assault and intimate partner violence”