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Rape In Congo, A Year Later: Change?

Every woman should read New York Times reporter Jeffrey Gettleman's latest missive on the rape-as-war-tactic epidemic in Congo: "Rape Victims' Words Help Congo Into Change." A year ago, Gettleman exposed the horrors happening in Bukavu, Congo, where thousands of women were being brutally raped as a consequence of the country's ongoing internal strife. In 2006, according to the UN, some 26,000 women were victims of sexual assaults in South Kivu Province alone. As a Congolese gynecologist stated, the savage attacks, which sometimes involve bayonets and piece of wood, resulting in the destruction of victims' reproductive and digestive systems, are "done to destroy women."

Since, the UN has declared such grand scale acts of sexual violence "a tactic of war." Now, Gettleman returns with another report from the frontlines. "Congo, it seems, is finally facing its horrific rape problem," he writes, "which United Nations officials have called the worst sexual violence in the world." Today, due to international attention, outside aid, and local efforts, a "culture of impunity" is breaking down, ending the silence when it comes to rape. More arrests of perpetrators are taking place than ever before, but, Gettleman is quick to point out, the number of those charged remains relatively small, particularly in a culture "where women tend to be beaten down anyway." 

In makeshift forums, women are telling their stories. "'There was no dinner,'" one woman's tale begins. "It was me who was dinner." In the audience, several women wore T-shirts that read in Kiswahili: "I refuse to be raped. What about you?" Eve Ensler, best known for having written "The Vagina Monolgues," is seeking to put an end to the worst rape problem in the world. Ensler deems the phenomenon "femicide": "'I have spent the past 10 years of my life in the rape mines of the world,' she said. 'But I have never seen anything like this.'" The playwright is helping to open a center at the heart of the problem that will provide counseling and support to thousands of rape victims. If you want to learn more, you can read about the project or donate here.