Marie’s* story haunts me. In the middle of the night, rebels stormed into her village and set fire to the huts. She was attacked by three soldiers as she tried to flee her home. They held her down while they took turns raping her. Marie still bears scars on her hands and the rape resulted in a pregnancy. She now lives with her son in a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
I visited Marie’s IDP camp in early March. The camp is located on a hardened lava flow, completely isolated from schools, food, clean water and health care. Conditions in the camp are, to put it mildly, awful.
Congo has been embroiled in a conflict for the past ten years involving nearly a dozen rebel groups. The conflict is fueled by the rebels’ efforts to control lucrative natural resources. Millions of civilians have been internally displaced by the fighting. According to John Holmes, the UN’s Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, Congo is also home to the worst sexual violence in the world.
In other words, Marie’s story is all too common. Rape and sexual violence have become a weapon of war in this country, used to terrorize its victims and tear apart communities. The judicial system in Congo is woefully under-resourced and lacks the capacity to prosecute perpetrators. Furthermore, most rape victims do not receive any medical treatment after they are attacked.
Bad roads, the scarce number of health clinics, poverty and social stigma all prevent these women from receiving desperately needed treatment. Congo’s lack of basic infrastructure inhibits the government’s ability to appropriately respond to the thousands of women who have been brutalized as part of the conflict. Rape victims are regularly ostracized from their home communities. Children that are a product of rape, like Marie’s son, also face discrimination.
Beyond providing necessary medical services, treatment can also start the healing process for these women. Telling their story to a health care professional and receiving appropriate treatment can reduce social stigma.
Access to medical treatment will not solve the problem of sexual violence in Congo. As long as rebels fight to control Congo’s natural resources and spar with each other, women will continue to suffer. Nevertheless, providing accessible health care can play a vital role in saving lives, healing emotional scars and mitigating the effects of the conflict.
* Name changed to protect identity
