DRC: Securing Gender Rights Key to Lasting Peace
Jeanbonheur Kongolo

December 2, 2004 - The ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has been marked by almost unimaginable atrocities - with sexual assault being a major part of the violence. According to the UN, gang rape has been so systematic and brutal that doctors in the DRC are now classifying wounds inflicted by rapists as combat injuries. Up to one in three Congolese women in conflict-affected areas have been raped and detailed reports from Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), among others, show the awful ramifications of the widespread sexual violence.

Despite the dedicated work of many Congolese NGOs and international groups, the issue of sexual assault and domestic violence remains a serous problem in the peace-process. HRW points out that while there have been rhetorical denunciations against impunity and calls for accountability, there has been no effective effort to address them. Additionally, attitudes towards rape and women in the DRC have further undermined efforts, with USAID reporting that at least one member of the transitional government dismissed rape as a women's issue and another said that rape was normal behaviour of soldiers who had been in the forest without women for a long time.

Rape, of course, is not a women's issue. Masculinity is one of the most powerful contexts within which sexual assault occurs, argues Christopher Kilmartin in Sexual Assault in Context, yet it is often left unaddressed. Because rape is usually understood as a violent and isolated act that happens to women, (for example, the girl was walking alone at night and was raped) the fact that men, power, and sexual desire are connected with sexual violence can then be safely ignored. Yet, if the fundamental relationship between male and female is one of rule, sexual desire becomes intertwined with power.

In the DRC the connection between men and women is unfortunately usually one of sexualized power. Women's position in Congolese society is totally subordinate to men - one example being that women cannot refuse sex in a marriage or demand a condom be used, even when their partner is known to be HIV positive and sleeping with other women. Polygamy, domestic abuse and marital rape are prevalent, with all considered acceptable and sometimes even normal.

In conflict, gender relations often become polarized. Militarized masculinity becomes the dominant option for men, argues Stefan Dudink and Dubravka Zarkov in Beyond Victims and Villains: Gender and Armed Conflict. Men are expected to take up arms and to fight, while in turn, stereotypical archetypes of femininity, such as the mother of the nation, and the rape victim, reinforce subordinate women's roles, thereby justifying male dominance. In a militarized society, men feel entitled to power and have the means to take it.

The use of rape as a weapon of war in DRC is a clear manifestation of a sense of entitlement coupled with the perceived roles of women and men and the violence that become acceptable in war. Because little attention is paid to how conflict and gender shape the often-violent relationship between men and women in the DRC, men can, therefore, focus on public sphere politics such as peace negotiations while women are left to deal with private sphere issues such as domestic abuse and sexual assault.

It is important to keep in mind, however, that militarized masculinity and men do not have to be synonymous. As Remy Masamba, a Congolese member of civil society, said, the situation is not hopeless. There are no hopeless situations only men who despair. Gender identities are fluid and change with time. The destructive relationship that many men have with women in the DRC today can be altered.

If lasting peace is to be secured in the DRC, gender issues need to be considered in a holistic way. While recognizing that men are not exclusively violent and women are not exclusively peaceful, more consideration is needed on how masculinities and femininities intersect and ways to build programs that foster a positive relationship between them. The African Union, the UN, and African and international civil society must work towards this goal. Only then can true peace be built in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

* Jeanbonheur Kongolo is Co-ordinator of Africa Journalists Commission on Human Rights

From: http://www.pambazuka.org/index.php?category=Women%20and%20Gender