The Dynamics of Sexual Violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo
T
he prevalence of sexual violence as a weapon of war in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has captured headlines since war broke out over five years ago. The plight of women who have suffered has been well documented. Nevertheless, it is difficult to look into the exact nature of the problem in a society where rape carries a stigma so powerful that it can lead to expulsion from one’s community. It is even more difficult to figure out how international organizations can intervene meaningfully.
Jocelyn Kelly of the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative delved into these issues at The Fletcher School last week while discussing her research on gender-based violence in the DRC. Her findings shed light on the nature of the phenomenon and the resulting policy implications.
As Kelly explained, the DRC is suffering from what John Holmes, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief, has called the worst sexual violence in the world. What began as a military tactic has not abated since the cessation of hostilities. In fact, it seems that rape has become normalized. Even civilians—robbers, gangs, rejected suitors—seem to accept rape as an acceptable “punishment” for a victim. There is still however, a high amount of stigma attached to rape victims.
These dynamics mean that researchers need to be particularly careful when probing the issue of sexual violence in the DRC. Conducting research in a fragile, post-conflict context is even more challenging due to security concerns. Kelly and her colleagues used Mixed Methods Research to reach their target population more effectively and safely. This methodology employs focus groups, interviews, and surveys to obtain both qualitative and quantitative data. Their findings were revealing.
First of all, many international programs in the DRC are based on false premises. For example, rape intervention efforts are typically modeled after problems seen in refugee camps where women have been attacked while leaving to find firewood. Thus, international organizations have sought to protect women as they move about during the day. But Kelly’s researched revealed a totally different situation in the DRC. Instead of women being attacked in broad daylight, they are attacked at night. In fact, they are attacked in their own homes and even in front of their families. The humanitarian programming is therefore addressing the wrong problem.
Secondly, and much to their surprise, they discovered that men were also deeply traumatized by the sexual violence in their communities. Kelly and her colleagues conducted much of their research at Panzi Hospital, a clinic designed to serve women harmed by sexual violence, where her team interviewed men as well as women. Since most international programming for sexual violence has focused on women, the men were particularly adamant about sharing their story as well. The researchers asked the men why a husband would turn away his wife after she had been raped. Some men explained that they were deeply ashamed at not having been able to protect their wives from harm, and that they could no longer look at them, let alone live with them. After all, in many cases the husbands had been forced to watch their wives being raped.
The men also had other fears, such as that of contracting a sexually-transmitted disease from a raped woman. If, for example, wives could be tested for these diseases then their husbands would be more prone to accepting them back after rape. The researchers learned that helping men cope with trauma is just as important as helping women recover.
Given the social dishonor of rape, programming must target a society, not just individuals. Harvard Humanitarian Initiative’s research shows that since rape as a weapon of war intends to destroy a community, the healing must also be addressed at the community level.
Cybčle Cochran F’09