Deconstructing Sexual Violence in Congo

by Harper McConnell

category: Humanitarian Relief

Published February 10, 2009 @ 06:01PM PT

The piece below was written by Harper McConnell, the US Director of Development for HEAL Africa. She spent two years in Goma, DRC, and is now based in Seattle.

The media coverage of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is awash with stories of horrific rape. Clearly, the core issue of sexual violence is not limited to Congo (it is estimated that one in four American college women have been raped), but the extent to which it has occurred in DRC is unprecedented. Rape in Congo is extensively portrayed as a weapon of war used to terrorize and cripple communities. It breaks apart traditional family structures, depresses the local economy as the fields lie fallow, and subjects the community to humiliation.

To attempt to understand this phenomenon is not to just look at individual perpetrators, but instead to examine the conditions created by collective interest groups that have produced an atmosphere ripe for sexual violence. To change these conditions is therefore to diminish sexual violence.

This three part series attempts to examine how peace, institutions, and infrastructure dictate the extent of sexual violence in DRC and how HEAL Africa, a locally based non-profit in Goma, battles this issue through social, economic, and medical initiatives.

Part 1: Peace

Joseph Ciza, a public health expert and head of HEAL Africa’s gender-based violence program, is a short, average looking man in his early 40s who walks with a limp. He has seen the worst atrocities possible in war, yet his demeanor is placid and his accomplishments are unbelievable given the circumstances he has passed through. He has orchestrated the medical treatment, counseling, and economic assistance of tens of thousands of women. He has even been invited by opposing rebel commanders to give talks to their troops on the repercussions of sexual violence and HIV AIDS.

Ciza can almost always pass through any armed front as HEAL Africa is a local non-governmental organization (NGO) with a neutral reputation. While in militia territory to evaluate the rural health centers HEAL Africa supervises and the Safe Houses that provide counseling and vocational training for women, he found they had both been looted. The HEAL Africa team conducted an assessment in order to bring back materials and medication.

Standing in the middle of the gutted health center, Ciza received a phone call from one of the 120 volunteer rape counselors he supervises. She herself was displaced and was working as a counselor in the refugee camp. The night before a militia group came and took all of her money and clothes. She said the counselors felt they had no protection and even the police fled in the presence of the militia. Ciza called a Nehemiah Committee member nearby the refugee camp to see what assistance he could give the counselors. HEAL Africa works through a network of 70 Nehemiah Committees in 70 different villages. Each committee is made up of 10 people representing different tribes and religious dominations who have been nominated by their communities. The committees are commissioned to look after the village’s most vulnerable populations, to pursue reconciliation through dialogue and community service, and to provide HEAL Africa with information.

The Nehemiah Committees identify women in their faith communities to receive HEAL Africa’s training to serve as counselors for sexual violence survivors. The counselors provide medical referrals to HEAL Africa and walk with the survivor through the healing process.

“The Nehemiah Committees and counselors prove it is possible for a Muslim and a Christian or for people from different tribes to work together for peace. They show their faith communities that we must care for those who are sick with HIV or who have been raped and not cast them out, ” Ciza said.

“We, the Congolese, must do this kind of reconciliation work on the ground and amongst ourselves. We are investing in peace by building relationships. But, we also realize that this conflict is much larger than Congo. Our land is very rich, but we are very poor. Why is this?”

The question is reflected to us, the consumers who benefit from Congo’s natural resources, such as coltan, which is found in all cell phones and laptops. Over 100 multi-national companies were named as illegally exploiting resources in DRC according to a 2002 UN Report on Congo's natural wealth. The report called upon the home countries of the corporations to take action, but any sort of action is yet to be seen. Without ethical, enforced systems of resource exploitation and ownership, Congo will continue to be tossed in the throes of armed groups backed by varying political and business interests, both in Africa and abroad.

To end the conflict is to reduce sexual violence. As consumers of Congo’s natural resources, we must ask ourselves, where is our responsibility? You can start here:

-Find out more about how to support HEAL Africa’s work at www.healafrica.org

-Ask your representative to support the Extractive Industries Transparency Disclosure Act. Click here for the letter.

-Ask your representative to support House Resolution 1227 condemning sexual violence in DRC and calling on the international community to respond. Click here for the letter.

Part two of this series is here, and part three is here.

[Photo from HEAL Africa]