Congo Sexual Violence Essay

According to ICRtoP, the Democratic Republic of Congo is reported to be the “rape capital of the world” with an estimated 15,000 rape cases in the Congo’s eastern provinces alone. Rape is a tool of war used by the various armed forces in the Congo in order to “create instability in

The video focuses on events in the Republic of the Congo, but it’s commonplace where there are chaos and lawlessness. Consider how people changed in the wake of hurricane Katrina, cultural norms eroded overnight and the criminal action began, so far there have been over 140 reported rapes and gang rapes. During the fight in Africa, these actives are normal. Without legal repercussion, conflict rape is considered “an unchangeable externality of war (Haddad, 2002).” As a weapon it’s has a psychological effect on the families and communities involved. It instills fear in both genders because of the fear of it being done to them and as important to their loved ones. The uncertainty of that’s happened to the people that go missing in the night is unimaginable. Another disturbing intent of people in power is to remove the bloodline of the opposed (aka ethnic cleansing), this is done through forced breeding, mutilation of females, eliminating future generations and ultimately driving the unwanted from the territory (Isgandarova, 2013). The third use of a weapon if creating fear to destabilize communities makes are taken and forced into combat roles while females are taken for the pleasure of their captors. This fear paralyzes people preventing them from taking up arms or collaborating to stop the offenses. With fewer adolescent and young adults, generations become weaker

Sexual abuse leaves many scars, creating feelings of guilt, anger, and fear that haunt survivors throughout their lives. These traumatic experiences can be detrimental to the victims’ sense of their own sexuality. Numerous individuals who have been abused have trouble pursuing adult relationships and engaging in sex as an adult. The abuse can color a person 's sexuality, preventing the survivor from pursuing a healthy sex life with a caring partner.  Sexual abuse is defined as unwanted sexual activity, with perpetrators using force, making threats or taking advantage of victims not able to give consent (Corcoran & Walsh, 2006). An immediate reaction to individuals who have been sexually abused include shock, fear or disbelief. Long-term symptoms include anxiety, fear or post-traumatic stress disorder (Corcoran & Walsh, 2006).

Worldwide, each and every day, new individuals of all genders, ages, races and religions become victims of sexual assault. These horrific incidences have been recorded since ancient times, yet no noteworthy steps have been taken to reduce the number of occurrences. However, an even bigger issue related to sexual assault stems from a morally corrupt society and a backwards way of thinking. Many victims fail to speak up and report their assaults if they know the person, if the person is of important status, or if they are a person of authority and influence, because they are afraid of the repercussions. In the novel, The Kite Runner, rape is a greatly discussed and significant topic. Young boys in Afghanistan are being assaulted by local bullies from important families, and victims of all ages are being harassed and violated by the Taliban

The effect of sexual abuse on children is disturbing and enduring. Victims of abuse are abused by those they trust and depend on, and because of this they do not realize that they are victims and that the abuse is wrong or not their fault. Faulkner (1996), “states that sexually abused children have reported that they feel something is wrong with them, that the abuse is their fault and they should blame themselves for the abuse“.

The Democratic Republic of Congo has always been an extremely poor country. They rank as the poorest country in the world but have a high number of natural resources (“World Without Genocide”). The Congo has an unemployment rate of around ninety-five percent, more than half of the Congo people do not have access to clean water, and their mortality rates among children is highest of any country in world (“Congo Voice”). Their economic situation made it even harder for the

Western assumptions mean they are not surprised by the number of rape victims they treat. Congolese women and communities understood that the narrative of rape was what westerns listened to and telling stories of rape meant that women got access to international aid. The common knowledge formed that in many areas to be a legitimate recipient of international aid, in the eyes of intervening actors, a woman must be a rape victim. Sexual Violence as a weapon of war.

Internationally, sexual assault is more likely the result of conflict with or within a society or nation. Emily Rauhala goes into much depth concerning males as victims of sexual assault primarily in the South African Congo and how this is not as spoken upon. She provides information about detention facilities and prisons that have reportedly used sexual assault as a torture treatment during these war times. “In South Africa’s overcrowded, under-funded prisons, rape and sexual violence are used to define and maintain a strict social hierarchy in which victims are humiliated, dominated and feminized,” (Johnson 2014). Rauhala provides an account of a male in the Congo who tells of his experience with sexual assault and how it has changed his life forever.

While war in the DRC already created unpleasant outcomes, such as poverty and corruption, it also created cruel type of a weapon, humiliation and rape of women beside the guns and bombs. Meger asserts in her article that the majority of the rape crimes involve gang rapes, “with an average of 4.5 attackers per victim,” and they also tend to be systematically preplanned (127). Women depicted in Ruined are examples of rape victims. Salima’s story in particular demonstrates how violent and unforgiving it can be out in there. She was gang raped when she was in her garden and her attackers even ended up killing her infant. Not only was she brutally assaulted, but also neglected and abandoned by her husband and the village, which left her nowhere to turn to. Salima sees Mama Nadi’s bar as a place to live, but in an entirely new way of

Women between the ages of 15 to 44 are at a greater risk of rape than cancer, malaria and a motor accident (Wood, 2009). According to Amnesty International (2014), 40 women are raped everyday in South Kivu regarding the on-going armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Sexual violence during armed conflict has historically been known as one of the legitimate spoils of war (Brown, 2011). Spoils of war result from defeating a population and claiming benefits due to its instability. Thus violence towards civilian’s asserts dominance, however the implications involved must be rooted to deeper consequences to a nation. In this essay I will argue that rape is perpetrated against women

As soon as she arrived in Congo, Lisa began searching for rape victims and interviewing them. They were hesitant to share their experiences with her at first, but as she grew closer to them and told them that she herself is also a rape victim, the silence started to disappear. The survivors started sharing some rather disturbing stories about how they were raped and tortured. Many of the survivors state that their genitalia have been mutilated. They say that soldiers inserted wooden branches into their vaginas, and one was even forced to sit on burning coals, completely burning her anus and rectum. Many of the women are forced to spend the rest of their lives with incontinence due to fistulas, which are ruptures and tears to the walls of their

Roots of sexual violence: education on prevalence, social norms, power dynamics and the role of alcohol/drug use in nullifying

The Democratic Republic of Congo is a young and embattled nation that is attempting to rise up out of a long history of merciless abuse. I believe the problems began from its very inception. It's the place King Leopold of Belgium took control of an area the measure of France and Germany combined, and built on empire on forced labor. The DRC was doomed from the very start. Progress toward competent governance in Africa has been hindered again and again by the endeavors of head of state to stay in power after their established terms lapse. These so called statesmen are for themselves, lining their own pockets. They have become as bad if not worse than the former colonial government because they are doing it to their own people. Do you think there

Mukwege wants the men and women of his country to participate in ending the struggle of gender-based abused in his country, in every hour 48 women are then raped in Congo, Dr. Mukwege's home country. He is doing his best for his country’s safety; this is why Dr Mukwege wants the men and women of his country to contribute in his own community for this sexual violence to end. He is not just referring to his country but everywhere else in the world, he wants and we want this sexual violence act to end immediately for the country’s

Of course, effective treatments for youths who have engaged in illegal sexual behaviors are needed to reduce the societal impact of sexual crimes. Sexual violence has been recognized as a significant public health problem that engenders substantial economic costs for the health care, social services, and criminal justice systems, as well as considerable pain and suffering for victims (Freyd et al., 2005; Krug, Dahlberg, Mercy, Zwi, & Lozano,2002; Letourneau, Eaton, Bass, Berlin, & Moore, 2014). Sexual behaviors by youths account for more than one third sexual offenses against minors, of whom the majority are prepubescent children increased risk for continued criminality into adulthood. Public policies and risk management efforts for youths