Systematic rape in Congo has been
called a "weapon of war," but after the latest war ended in 2003,
sexual violence continued to be a daily reality for Congolese women.
"This isn't a story for the war, this is our lives now. If the world is
bored with the story, then they have forgotten how to be human," one
woman told Pascale Palmer, senior press officer at the Catholic Agency
for Overseas Development, the official aid agency of the English and
Welsh bishops.
"Take our stories and tell everyone what is happening here. The world
thinks it knows -- but it doesn't know," Feza M'Nyampunda, a 48-year-old
victim of rape, told Palmer during a visit to Congo last year.
A study by the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative in April 2010 showed
civilian rapes in Congo multiplied by 17 times between 2004 and 2008.
In a telephone interview with Catholic News Service,
Palmer said she has visited CAFOD's rehabilitation sites in Bukavu,
Goma and Bunia several times and witnessed the "incredibly harrowing
stories" of women ages 16-60 who have experienced sexual violence.
She said CAFOD started projects in Congo in 2004, after the organization started to really understand what was going on.
"More and more women were coming to the church organizations and trying
to tell their story" of rape and sexual assault during seven years of
war, said Palmer.
To provide an outlet for these women, CAFOD partnered with the Bukavu
Archdiocese Justice and Peace Commission to create "listening rooms,"
where women can go to talk about their experiences as victims of sexual
violence in a safe environment.
Some women have a single experience of rape or sexual violence, while
others are taken out to militia camps after their villages are attacked.
Palmer said they can be taken detained for months, "held as a titular
concubine, and kept naked and held as sexual slaves."
She told CNS that, "at listening rooms, women get together and learn a
trade, which allows them to do something physical while they talk." The
skill allows them to potentially start a small business of their own.
At the listening rooms, women meet in groups along with trained care
workers who "help them unpick some of the really ghastly experiences
that have happened to them," explained Palmer.
CAFOD's partners in Bukavu also work closely with families who initially
rejected women in their family after they were raped, because of the
stigma involved.
"We sensitize the community," said Palmer. "That stigmatization should not be something that breaks up the community."
Palmer believes the issue of sexual violence in Congo is due in part to
the patriarchal society, and that when emancipation of women is reached,
sexual violence can finally come to an end.
The newest initiative from Catholic Relief Services hopes to empower
Congolese women from within their community. The organization's program
harnesses technology for a community-based early warning and protection
project. Utilizing radio and (cell) phone networks provided by CRS,
communities can share and receive updates on the humanitarian situation
so they can protect themselves.
Denis Tougas, the African Great Lakes regional director of the
Montreal-based group L'Entraide missionnaire, has monitored sexual
violence in Congo for many years. He told CNS "the only solution is for
the Congolese people to fight back with democracy," and that empowering
women would be an important step toward that goal and the country's
future. Rather than simply focusing on issues of rape, educating
communities about women's rights can be more useful in preventing sexual
assault as well domestic violence, he said.
L'Entraide missionnaire is an organization supported by religious
institutes and secular groupings of French-speaking Canada. The
organization defends human rights and promotes international solidarity.
For years it has been gathering people involved in religious institutes
and developmental organizations for a round-table discussion on the
situation in Congo.
"There is a lot of concern and anxiety in the Western world, which has
brought distortion in the answers to the problems," Tougas said,
explaining that (he feels) that most projects and programs designed to
help Congolese women are flawed because they place foreigners in charge.
"The problem has to be solved from inside," said Tougas, otherwise women see "it's just another program from the outside."