Rape in the DR Congo: Reflections of a Social Worker

By: Guy Milongo

The Democratic Republic of Congo has known many wars since the revolution of 1996. Beyond millions of estimated deaths, tens of thousands have been sexually abused, especially in the eastern part of the country. A large percentage of these victims have been women. These abuses are not only used as strategies of war by different rebel groups but also as a way for certain tribes to dominate others.

In DRC, there are different ethnic groups and certain are considered superior to others. In these "superior" classes, women are not allowed to marry someone below their rank. During conflict, many people take advantage of the chaos to rape women of superior ranks in order to take on a higher social status. According to the traditional rules, to "take" a married woman, is a way to show dominance over her husband or her family and community.  The husbands, who feel the rape of their wives means they have become nothing in society, seek to maintain their dignity by rejecting their wives. 

These rapes and sexual assaults engender other problems such as high rates of HIV and STIs, unwanted pregnancies, gynecological complications, trauma and divorce. Many women are also rejected and isolated from their broader communities; shame placed on the victim. 

Women and young girls travel long distances to fetch water and firewood and/or markets, through isolated and insecure areas. The social workers involved in fighting to protect women face a number of very significant challenges, such as: the difficulty to denounce the perpetrators out of fear; helping the victim deal with the ridicule and rejection and shame inflicted on the victims by the community; the remoteness of the villages where these crimes are often being committed; the lack of proper and efficient protection programs, even though a police force for the protection of women has been created (However, it does not have the necessary tools to effectively carry out its mission.)

In addition to this, the legal status of women in the Congo also creates a major barrier to their protection, especially in rural areas where women are considered inferior and their rights are given to the person in charge of them. 

For example, from the Congolese Family Code:

1. Article 353: "Under the leadership of the husband, the husband concur in the interest of the household, to ensure the moral and material direction of it";

2. Article 450: No civil action in court can be taken without a husband's permission. The law also forbids a wife the right to acquire, dispose of, or non obligations without authorization of husband. Only the court can remove this permission;

3. Article 454: Requires a married woman to follow her husband wherever he decides to reside. In return, the husband is obliged to receive it;

4. Article 467: Adultery does not mean the same for men and for women. The law punishes the man  that if his act could have an injurious character for his wife (example: sleeping with another woman in the marital bed). But the same law punishes a married woman who has had sex with another person other than his spouse, regardless of the circumstances;

5. The most obvious is probably Article 444  which states: "The husband is the head of household. He must protect  his wife, and the wife must obey her husband."

A huge percentage of humanitarian work in the DRC is undertaken by international NGOs.  Due to the inaccessibility of many villages and great insecurity, these NGOs must often work through local organizations, the majority of whose staff are not professionals.  Due to the lack of formal social structure in DR Congo, social workers are obligated to simultaneously fill the roles of psychological support, health care providers, and must often offer advice, legal support and basic shelter to victims.  The response time by authorities to these crimes is also certainly longer than desired.  There is also the risk of retaliation from some rapists, especially militaries, for those who try and help women.  Dr Mukwege, responsible for managing the main hospital which specializes in the treatment of women raped in south Kivu was the victim of attempted murder for his work.

My reflection is based on the fact that rape victims have to be considered as victims by the community and not subjects of shame. Many foreign funders focus their support on the health care element without taking care to build awareness amongst community members about their role in the protection of victims; if these women fear denouncing the perpetrators of sexual assault it’s because they feel insecure and community support doesn’t exist. 

I think the solidarity that has always characterized African societies should be enhanced in order to awaken the conscience of the people to take action to prevent acts that tear apart cultural values. The lack of information on women's rights limits boh the communities' awareness their ability to prevent and to take all necessary action to stand against the violence suffered on a daily basis. 

Ignorance coupled with cultural taboos also explains the persistence of these forms of violence. Even and especially after suffering rape, women have the right to live safely in their communities.  But there are some serious challenges ahead with respect to community acceptance of those who are raped in the presence of their children, those that gave birth after rape and have to live with HIV. For example, there were reports, from an unknown source, that a women who was raped fled her community to live in another territory in the south of Congo.  When the community heard that she was a raped women and that her son was born of a rape,  some members of the community proceeded to mock her and she ended up committing suicide. 

Despite these immense challenges, many women have been encouraged to found their own organizations for mutual support to regain their dignity by breaking the silence and speaking out against sexual violence. 

 For social workers like myself, providing psycho-social assistance oriented towards families and affected communities and finding alternative assistance for children born of rape who are often rejected by their families is a central part of our work.  The fallout from this sexual violence has increased the number of street kids.