I. Abstract
Every five minutes, four women in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are raped. This means that 1,100 women are victims of sexual violence on a daily basis (Counting Sexual Violence in the Congo). Such exorbitant cases of rape have earned the DRC its title as “the rape capital of the world” (Citation -http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8650112.stm). Nevertheless, Congolese conventions regarding gender roles have facilitated massive infliction of sexual violence, especially on behalf of soldiers. This incorporation of rape into the sociocultural fabric of the DRC has, in turn, given way to a normalization of rape culture in the Congo, which has perpetuated and even enabled the sexual violence crisis. Moreover, the rape
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Men are conditioned to be “courageous, level-headed, tough killers” (Citation), while women are trained to be “caregivers, childe-bearers, [and] nurturers” (Citation). Furthermore, social norms establish that men ought to attain numerous partners and possess the fiscal capital to “bestow gifts in exchange for sex” (Citation). Because the notion of masculinity is particularly rigid in Congolese society, an extreme binary exists, under which an individual can only be masculine or feminine. This dichotomy engenders enormous pressure conferred upon men to fulfill masculine roles at any expense. Consequently, men in the DRC will often justify sexual violence perpetrated on women by privileging the need to realize their masculinity (Citation). This is particularly problematic because women are believed to exist for the sole benefit of men. And, men are compelled to express their masculinity outwardly, through rape, to evade skepticism of their capacity to be virile. Masculinity in this regard has been described by scholars as “not a natural trait, but something that must be achieved before one’s peers” (Citation – 121). Thus, rape could be perceived as an external, visible display of masculinity. Although the actions of male perpetrators are not popular in the eyes of the international community, these individuals too
Majority of the public still follows the notion of “aggressive-passive, dominant-submissive, me-Tarzan-you-Jane nature of relationship between the sexes of our culture, [which] is a close association between violence and sexuality” (Freeman, 1989). Freeman also asserted that the significantly higher population of men compared to the women is the reason for the increasing number of rape victims and that men’s hostility which eventually leads into sexual violence was a noted part of the male nature. That understanding and belief hinder the public of the full acceptance for the need global gender
Within society, there is an engrained belief of what makes a person a legitimate victim and often their status as a ‘victim’ is questioned. This is especially true if the victim does not fit the typical stereotype of who is considered to be a legitimate victim. This is most widely illustrated in cases involving male victims of sexual assault.
Sexual Assault described in technical terms is defined as any sort of sexual activity between two or more people in which one of the people involved is involved against his or her will. (3) The description of "against his or her will" extends to varying degrees of aggression, ranging from indirect pressure to a direct physical attack. According to the Crime Victim Research and Treatment Center 1.3 adult women are sexually assaulted in the United States every minute. (1) Of these assaults 84% of the attacks occur by someone the victim knows. The Senate Judiciary Committee the United States sighted the United States as having the highest rate of sexual assaults per capita in the
It focuses on examining how violence impacts members of a specific gender, but most often focuses on its unique impacts on women. Authors such as Moon focus on how prostitution (including cases of forced prostitution in Japan) impact women specifically, as well as Moon and MacKinnon pointing to rape as a specific and horrific example of sexual and gender based violence (SGBV). However, as Jones notes, gendering genocide has specific implications for men as well. We find that men of “military” age are proportionally more often the victims of direct violence, particularly as it pertains to our two cases in Serbia and
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
Domestic violence exists everywhere and affects all people regardless of socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, sex, ethnicity, or religion. Most times physical violence is accompanied by emotional abuse and controlling behaviors. The result of domestic violence includes physical injury, psychological issues, and death. Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) occurs in 1 of 4 women in the United States and can be correlated with a loss of emotional, social, physical and mental health. Intimate Partner Violence is an issue that does not receive a lot of recognition and is overlooked majority of the time. There is a lot of information on women in intimate partner violence relationships that explains how it affects women physically, mentally, and socially.
“…the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and Save the Children released a report on their investigation into allegations of sexual abuse of West African refugee children in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. Their interviews with 1500 men, women, and children refugees revealed that girls between the ages of 13 and 18 were sexually exploited by male aid workers, many of whom were employed by national and international non-governmental agencies (NGOs) and the UN, and also by UN peacekeepers and community leaders.” (Hynes 2004:
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
College students are often believed to be a subpopulation at elevated risk for sexual assault, and although sexual assault is experienced by both male and female students, women experience significantly higher rates of sexual assault compared to men. (Krebs, Lindquist., Warner, Fisher, & Martin, 2007) Research also suggests that women in college are at a greater risk to be victims of sexual assault in comparison to women of comparable age in the general population. (Fisher, Cullen, & Turner, 2000) Due to the higher rates of victimization, most research focuses on the sexual assault experienced by women on college campuses, however, there is some data concerning the sexual assault of men. Although this paper focuses on the
The term ‘rape culture’ was coined by feminists in the United States in 1970. The term itself was designed to illustrate the ways in which society blamed victims of sexual assault, and how the normalization of male sexual violence was acceptable. Rape culture can stem from the acceptance of rape as a daily occurrence, manifested as a male prerogative. There is a hesitation by the authorities to go against the patriarchal cultural norms, hence linking nonconsensual sex to the cultural disposition of society. The patriarchal perspective of rape culture, embedded with gender inequality and misogyny are passed through generations which ultimately leads to the extensive institutional and social acceptance of rape. Actions which advocate sexist ideals are utilized to justify and validate normative misogynistic perceptions. Rape culture sexualizes violence inflicted upon women, as it serves as a continuum of a society which views a women’s body to be sexually available by default, deriving from the overall domination and objectification of a female. The underlying cause of rape culture is localized as it based upon the social aspects of culture. For example, countries with a prolific ‘war culture’ tend to emphasize violence and masculinity, and therefore rape is viewed as a normal facet of society. I intend to parallel the element of rape culture to the enforcement of social rules and the conditioning of gender roles. I plan on analyzing the notion that within the encompassment of
Genocidal rape occurs through what is the perpetrator’s motive. The majority of male soldiers use marital rape for the satisfaction of feeling superior or in command. Male rapist’s use the feeling of superiority to make the opposing party feel vulnerable (Claudia Card pg. 17). Rape during war sends a message out to the male community for the purpose of humiliation. The objective behind Raping a wife, daughter, mother or sister is to prove that the men related to them we unable to protect them from the sexual violence. Not only is genocidal rape explained through power motives, but can be explained through biological and social motives. Rape during a war can be used as a tactic for relieving stress (Carly Brown). Mullins proclaims soldiers
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
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is the most dangerous place in the world to be a woman and is one of the least developed countries in the world. A 2011 American Journal of Public Health report found that more than 400,000 women surveyed in 2007 reported that they were raped in the previous twelve months, adding up to 1,150 rapes per day. In a 2007 survey, 1.69 to 1.80 million women between the ages of fifteen and forty-nine reported being raped in their lifetime. Members of the Congolese army, rebel groups, militias, and other groups continue to use sexual violence against women and children as a systematic tactic of war to destroy communities. Sexual violence in the DRC is worse today than in Rwanda during the genocide.
In an article from The Guardian from August 16, 2015 named “The village where men are banned”, Julie Bindel visits a village named Umoja in northern Kenya that is run by all women. This village has women and children that have come from all types of places that have experienced rape, female genital mutilation, child marriage, and abuse. These women come to Umoja to escape all those terrible things. In Umoja the women receive support and help from other women in the village. The women in this village come here to escape all the great dangers that they experience from men. These rapes are usually happening by British soldiers, the rapist is not being punished and these rapes usually lead to the women being abused by their husbands because of these rapes. The victims of these rapes have gone to report these incidents “However [the RMP] came to the view that every single one of these entries had been forged, even in the strongest cases identified,” said Day (The Guardian) This leads these women to look for somewhere safe to go which they find
The definition of masculinity shows young males that in order to be respected, power must be applied upon others and intimidation is the only method of gaining this respect. Through the use of this power and intimidation, females are often oppressed and kept under the control of men. Woman has need of the male in order to gain human dignity, to eat, to enjoy life, to procreate; it is through the service of sex that she gets these benefits; because she is confined to that function, she is wholly an instrumentality of exploitation (De Beauvoir, 360). Males use power over women to reassure their manliness and to portray their masculinity. This violence is not only present in households. It is also present in masculinity versus nature in a capitalist society, where the environment must be altered and destroyed for economic gains. It appears that violence against nature-that is, the impossible and disastrous drive to dominate and conquer the natural world-is integrally connected with domination among humans (Kaufman, 7). Another example of showing this power is through rape and sexual abuse. Through rape, men display their dominance in the most violent and gruesome ways. As Kaufman notes, in the testimonies of rapists on hears over and over again expressions of inferiority, powerlessness, anger (15). By committing this crime, males display their physical strength upon the victim and this is what masculinity is defined as, a display of power and