Sexual violence and discrimination against women
Sexual violence has characterised much of the violence perpetuated in Congo. Used as a tactic of war, the daily violations of women and children by armed groups have created a climate of fear and a reputation for the DRC as world’s “worst place to be a woman or a child”. Women from ages “six to eighty” have become victims and one statistic suggests that over 200,000 women may have been victimized over the past decade, while another notes that in some regions, as many as 40 women are raped every day.
However, despite the massive scale of violence against women committed, the level of assistance that victims can expect in the form of medical care
or post-traumatic counseling service is minimal to the point of
non-existence, especially if one considers the fact that only 3
practicing gynecologists serve North Kivu, a province of over 800,000 people. Indeed, most of the rape shelters in the DRC are operated by foreign or international non-governmental organizations. But despite this intervention by the international community, supply has been insufficient to meet demand.
In addition to psychological and physical trauma, rape victims bear socio-economic costs. For instance, the families of raped women are only paid a dowry
price of 2 goats, if at all, as compared to the typical price of 20
goats. Consequently, raped women are often abandoned by their husbands
whilst raped girls have difficulty marrying. Thus, in the context of the DRC’s patriarchal society,
where women are dependent on men – first their father and later husband
– for economic support, their status as rape victims inevitably affects
their economic well-being.
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