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In DRC , Clinton Urges Action to Combat Epidemic of Sex Assaults
FrontLines - September 2009
Internally displaced people watch as Clinton tours their camp on the outskirts of Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Aug. 11.
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She called the situation evil. The acts perpetrated against women atrocities. The epidemic of rapes of women and girls in eastern Congo a crime against humanity.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, in her visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, made sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) a priority in discussions
with leaders of the central
African country.
The DRC was one stop during an 11-day, seven-country visit to the continent where other issues that impact women were prominently discussed.
But the longstanding problems surrounding rapes in the DRC have proved among the most complex to resolve.
Statistics suggest hundreds of thousands of women have been victims of sexual assaults in Eastern Congo, a region that has seen years of fighting between the government and armed groups that oppose it. Women have been abused by government and opposition
forces and internationally
backed peacekeepers and staff, with far-reaching medical, emotional, and social consequences.
A rape victim is led to the operating room by a nurse at the Heal Africa Clinic in Goma, Aug. 10. The Congolese woman has undergone nine operations to try to repair damage following a rape by members of an armed group. Doctors at the clinic treat women who have been sexually abused and develop serious physical problems due to the violent nature of the attacks. The women stay at a transit home inside the clinic where they are treated physically and psychologically. Clinton visited Goma Aug. 11, where the United Nations says nearly 3,500 women have been raped since the beginning of the year. Hundreds of thousands of women have been victims of rape for almost a decade, usually by groups of armed men who use rape as a weapon of war.
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In announcing that the United States will provide an additional $17 million to respond to SGBV during her visit, Clinton said the money will be spent to train health care workers and on medical care, counseling, economic assistance, and legal support for victims.
As much as $2.9 million has been designated to help recruit and train police officers—female officers are a priority—to respond to sex assault cases and protect women and children.
Technical experts from the United States are expected to arrive in DRC this month to train police and legal staff to use mobile devices, photographs, and videos to gather evidence in rape cases. Other experts are expected to follow and focus on ways to expand U.S. support to survivors.
The new funding comes on top of several million dollars the United States has targeted for sex assaults in the region through the State and Defense Departments and USAID. For example, the Agency provided nearly $1.2 million this fiscal year to protect women in the North Kivu and Orientale provinces.
And soon USAID’s office in the DRC will award a $7 million
program to increase access to services for SGBV victims in North and South Kivu provinces.
Since 2002, USAID has allocated more than $10 million
to SGBV activities, helping
survivors and local advocacy
groups rack up small victories, such as creation of the 2006 law against SGBV, in their efforts to sponsor laws that protect women from sexual assault and punish the perpetrators.
The problem is entrenched, however, and continued legal assistance is necessary to implement the 2006 law and improve access to courts for victims.
Clinton acknowledged this during her visit when she urged DRC government leaders to follow through on their “zero tolerance” policy on SGBV crimes committed by members of the military. And she called on the United Nations to hold international peacekeepers accountable for their crimes as well.
“In the face of such evil, people of good will everywhere
must respond,” Clinton said. “We want to banish the problem of sexual violence into the dark past, where it belongs.”
★
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