WUNRN
Congo - Sexually Abused Women Subject of Fact-Finding |
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D.C |
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The
conflict in the eastern DRC has displaced over one million people, and women
have borne the brunt of much of the violence. The aid organization OXFAM says,
on average, more than one thousand women are raped every day. A fact-finding
mission is underway in the DRC to find better ways of protecting women from
violence and getting them more involved in the peace process.
Much
of the violence in recent months has been blamed on various rebel groups. These
include the Hutu-based FDLR, which took part in the 1994 Rwandan genocide
before fleeing to what was then
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Mary Robinson |
OXFAM
International president Mary Robinson and Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda,
general-secretary of the World YWCA, have visited camps for the displaced.
Robinson,
the former president of
"I
was able to raise with him concerns about security, concerns about displacement
of civilians, and in particular the violence. And he said he has been
especially addressing that issue with his cabinet. That he's insisting on zero
violence against women. That he's been talking to his army chief. So, I think
there is a change of mood in the context of what has been happening," she
says.
What
has been happening in the eastern DRC is that rape has been used as a weapon of
war. Armed groups have raided towns and villages, raping women in front of
their families as a means of laying claim to the territory.
Some
of these women told their stories to Robinson at the Mugunga One camp, one of
the oldest camps for internally displaced people in the eastern DRC.
"It
was really very sad to hear because they were willing to speak about how they
had been raped. In some cases, men had entered their home and raped them and
then their husbands would no longer accept them. In some cases it was when they
went for firewood. In some cases they became pregnant and they had babies that
were born of rape," says Robinson.
Many
of the rapes in the eastern DRC have been so violent that even surgery could
nor repair the damage. Robinson says many women in the Mugunga One camp say
they lack adequate food and shelter for their families. Some feel pressured to
return home but are afraid they'll be attacked if they do.
Nyaradzayi
Gumbonzvanda, general-secretary of the YWCA, says women want to prove they are
more than just victims.
"The
women are yearning for peace, but also for justice and also a return to
normalcy. But,
|
Nyaradzayi
Gumbonzvanda |
equally,
the vibrancy of commitment to say we want to be part of the solution. We are
not just the victims. We have ideas. We understand what needs to be done. And
what needs to be done is for our communities to be secure and for us to go back
home," she says.
She
says she was also struck by the hundreds of former child soldiers at one camp,
ranging in age of eight to seventeen. Gumbonzvanda says that support and
skills-building programs have been established for survivors of violence.
"What
is striking is that we need a collective response on this continent to say no
to war and yes to peace. We need to sustain a massive effort to have peace and
also to have justice in
Gumbonzvanda
and Mary Robinson meet with Rwandan president Paul Kagame over the weekend.
Upon
leaving Africa, the YWCA and OXFAM leaders will meet with officials in
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