Women's Health
The democratic republic of Congo has been named the heart of mother Africa but it has also been coined the rape capital of the entire world. Primarily in the eastern part of the country, it has been described as the worst in the world. The DR Congo has a long history of unrest and instability. Although rape and many other vile acts of sexual violence has been in the DR Congo since 1870s, when the Belgian King Leopold II sets up a private venture to colonize the democratic republic of Congo. What happened then still effects the people today. Since the 1990’s the number of violent sexual acts has up roared to a heart breaking number. Most of the current violence is due to the armed conflicts but are done by both the rebel militia and the government soldiers. Which leave the women helpless and with no protection. There are Congolese laws that criminalized these acts but they are not only rarely enforced but also charges are lightened.
Rape used as a weapon of war. The United Nations has declared this as of 2008, that rape or any acts of sexual violence can be deemed as a weapon. Under the leadership of Mobutu Sese Seko, sexual violence was used as a mean of torture. More recently in 2004, a human rights group, Amnesty International had 40,000 cases of rape but the numbers are inconclusive due to the fact that these are only the number that seeked treatment. In 2011, it was reported that 1,000 woman were raped daily.
The American Medical Association reported that 39.7% women, and 23.6% of men in North Kivu, South Kivu and Province Orientale have been exposed to sexual violence. Another study that has been conducted claims 2 in 5 women living in the eastern Congo will be victims of sexual violence. As Noel Rwabirinba, a sixteen-year-old who had been a militiaman for two years said, “If we see girls, it’s our right…we can violate them. Margot Wallstrom coined the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo “the most dangerous place to be a woman”.
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The medical repercussions of the sexual assault in the DRC vary from severed and broken limbs, burned flesh, rectovaginal and vesicovaginal fistulas, STIs, pregnancy, and urinary incontinence to death. Adequate medical care for these injuries is very hard to come by, and many survivors remain ill or disfigured for the rest of their lives. Sexual assault has also contributed to the HIV rate. Before the conflict in 1997, only 5% of the population was HIV positive; by 2002, there was a 20% HIV positive rate in the eastern region. There are also many psychological and social consequences to being the victim of sexual violence. Victims often suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression, and suicide. This can be particularly severe in cases in which men have been forced at gunpoint to sexually assault their daughters, sisters, or mothers.