Sexual violence in the protracted conflict of DRC programming for rape survivors in South Kivu

Steiner Birthe, Benner, Sondorp Egbert, Schmitz, Mesmer Ursula, Rosenberger, Rosenberger Sandrine

Description

Despite international acknowledgement of the linkages between sexual violence and conflict, reliable data on its prevalence, the circumstances, characteristics of perpetrators, and physical or mental health impacts is rare. Among the conflicts that have been associated with widespread sexual violence has been the one in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Methods From 2003 till to date Malteser International has run a medico-social support programme for rape survivors in South Kivu province, DRC. In the context of this programme, a host of data was collected. We present these data and discuss the findings within the frame of available literature. Results Malteser International registered 20,517 female rape survivors in the three year period 2005–2007. Women of all ages have been targeted by sexual violence and only few of those – and many of them only after several years – sought medical care and psychological help. Sexual violence in the DRC frequently led to social, especially familial, exclusion. Members of military and paramilitary groups were identified as the main perpetrators of sexual violence. Conclusion We have documented that in the DRC conflict sexual violence has been – and continues to be – highly prevalent in a wide area in the East of the country. Humanitarian programming in this field is challenging due to the multiple needs of rape survivors. The easily accessible, integrated medical and psycho-social care that the programme offered apparently responded to the needs of many rape survivors in this area.

Informations

• Publié par: biomed
• Publié le: 01 janvier 2009
• Nombre de lectures: 26
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Conflict and Health

BioMedCentral

Open Access Research Sexual violence in the protracted conflict of DRC programming for rape survivors in South Kivu 1 2 3 2 Birthe Steiner* , Marie T Benner , Egbert Sondorp , K Peter Schmitz , 4 5 Ursula Mesmer and Sandrine Rosenberger

1 2 3 Address: Independent Researcher, Krefeld, Germany, Malteser International, Cologne, Germany, London School of Hygiene and Tropical 4 5 Medicine, London, UK, Malteser International, Bukavu, DR Congo and Malteser International, Kinshasa, DR Congo Email: Birthe Steiner*  [e-mail]; Marie T Benner  mariet.benner@malteserinternational.org; Egbert Sondorp  [e-mail]; K Peter Schmitz  Peter.schmitz@malteserinternational.org; Ursula Mesmer  [e-mail]; Sandrine Rosenberger  Sandrine.rosenberger@malteserafrica.org * Corresponding author

Published: 15 March 2009 Received: 9 October 2008 Accepted: 15 March 2009 Conflict and Health2009,3:3 doi:10.1186/1752150533 This article is available from: http://www.conflictandhealth.com/content/3/1/3 © 2009 Steiner et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract Background:Despite international acknowledgement of the linkages between sexual violence and conflict, reliable data on its prevalence, the circumstances, characteristics of perpetrators, and physical or mental health impacts is rare. Among the conflicts that have been associated with widespread sexual violence has been the one in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Methods:From 2003 till to date Malteser International has run a medicosocial support programme for rape survivors in South Kivu province, DRC. In the context of this programme, a host of data was collected. We present these data and discuss the findings within the frame of available literature. Results:Malteser International registered 20,517 female rape survivors in the three year period 2005–2007. Women of all ages have been targeted by sexual violence and only few of those – and many of them only after several years – sought medical care and psychological help. Sexual violence in the DRC frequently led to social, especially familial, exclusion. Members of military and paramilitary groups were identified as the main perpetrators of sexual violence.

Conclusion:We have documented that in the DRC conflict sexual violence has been – and continues to be – highly prevalent in a wide area in the East of the country. Humanitarian programming in this field is challenging due to the multiple needs of rape survivors. The easily accessible, integrated medical and psychosocial care that the programme offered apparently responded to the needs of many rape survivors in this area.

Introduction Today's armed conflicts mostly occur within state borders and typically drag on for years, even decades. Multicausal in nature, these crises are typically "highly politicised" and "frequently associated with nonconventional warfare"

[1,2]. National accountability mechanisms are character istically absent or severely weakened [3], which conse quently gives rise to a climate of impunity for perpetrating all sorts of crimes. These conflicts tend to affect the civil ian sphere, regardless of growing international emphasis

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