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The risks of instrumentalizing the narrative on sexual violence in the DRC: Neglected needs and unintended consequences

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 May 2015

Laura Heaton
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Extract

Public understanding of humanitarian emergencies tends to focus on one story and one type of victim. Examples are manifold: amputees in Sierra Leone, victims of kidnapping in Colombia, or victims of chemical weapons in Syria. At times, the aid community, and the media in turn, seizes upon a particular injustice – landmines, female genital mutilation and child soldiers are examples from recent decades – and directs resources and attention its way. Similarly, thematic trends tend to dominate aid discourse, with funding proposals to donors replete with references to the framework du jour. In a related phenomenon highlighted by author and aid worker Fiona Terry, “[w]ords are commandeered to give a new gloss to familiar themes: ‘capacity building’ became ‘empowerment’, which has now become ‘resilience’”. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the conflict has been largely defined by sexual violence, and raped women are its most prominent victims.

Keywords

Democratic Republic of the Congosexual violencewarconflictpeacekeepingadvocacyaid
Type
Addressing/Responding to sexual violence in armed conflict
Information
International Review of the Red Cross , Volume 96 , Issue 894: Sexual violence in armed conflict , June 2014 , pp. 625 - 639
Copyright
Copyright © icrc 2015 

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References

1 Maria Eriksson Baaz and Maria Stern, interview by email, 18 December 2012.

2 Fiona Terry, interview by email, 14 October 2014.

3 Several studies attest to this dynamic. See Baaz, Maria Eriksson and Stern, Maria, The Complexity of Violence: A Critical Analysis of Sexual Violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, 2010Google Scholar; Human Security Report Project, Human Security Report 2012: Sexual Violence, Education, and War: Beyond the Mainstream Narrative, Simon Fraser University, 2012Google Scholar; Autesserre, Séverine, “Dangerous Tales: Dominant Narratives on the Congo and Their Unintended Consequences”, African Affairs, Vol. 111, No. 443, 2012CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Nynke Douma and Dorothea Hilhorst, “Fond de Commerce? Sexual Violence Assistance in the Democratic Republic of Congo”, Disaster Studies Occasional Paper No. 2, Wageningen University, 2012, available at: www.wmm.com/filmcatalog/study/justice_report.pdf (all internet references were accessed in October 2014); Baaz, Maria Eriksson and Stern, Maria, Sexual Violence as a Weapon of War? Perceptions, Prescriptions, Problems, Zed Books, New York, 2013Google Scholar.

4 For the findings of this investigation, see Laura Heaton, “What Happened in Luvungi? On Rape and Truth in Congo”, Foreign Policy, March/April 2013, available at: http://foreignpolicy.com/2013/03/04/what-happened-in-luvungi/.

5 Prunier, Gérard, Africa's World War: Congo, the Rwandan Genocide, and the Making of a Continental Catastrophe, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2008Google Scholar.

6 Jeffrey Gettleman, “Clinton Presses Congo on Minerals”, New York Times, 10 August 2009.

7 Michelle Faul, “Some 200 Women Gang-Raped Near Congo UN Base”, Associated Press, 24 August 2010.

8 Michelle Faul, “Congo Leaders: We Begged UN to Protect Civilians”, Associated Press, 1 September 2010.

9 Much of the media reporting about the incident highlighted the shortcomings of the peacekeepers in the headlines and ledes of their stories. See for example, the New York Times headline from 3 October 2010: “Mass Rapes in Congo Reveals U.N. Weakness”; see also the opening line of the Associated Press's 1 September 2010 article: “Congolese community leaders say they begged local U.N. officials and army commanders to protect villagers days before rebels gang-raped scores of people, from a month-old baby boy to a 110-year-old great-great-grandmother.”

10 Author's translation. See Mariana Grépinet, “Les Femmes Violées de Luvungi”, Paris Match, 9 September 2010.

11 M. Faul, above note 7.

12 Ibid.

13 For the detailed findings of this investigation see L. Heaton, above note 4; and the ensuing rebuttal by International Medical Corps (IMC), “Our Experience in Luvungi”, Foreign Policy, 5 March 2013.

14 Health-care provider, interview, Walikale territory, DRC, 29 June 2011.

15 Ibid. For more details see L. Heaton, above note 4.

16 IMC said in a statement that “no revisions were made to patient logs”. The organization explained the increase in the numbers by saying that “many reporting survivors did not come forward for weeks after the attack. … Up until that point, survivors were simply too frightened to walk the distances required to seek medical attention.” Margaret Aguirre, IMC, statement, 24 June 2013, cited in L. Heaton, above note 4. The group's Los Angeles-based communications director stated in correspondence with the author: “As a humanitarian, service-focused organization, IMC does not ever attempt to ‘verify’ reports of rape. We reported on the number of people we assisted with medical services who reported being raped. Our policy is to provide assistance that self-reporting survivors seek, without subjecting them to inquiry.” Aguirre later added that IMC “did not discuss internally or distort these figures in any way”.

17 L. Heaton, above note 4, p. 36.

18 As one leader explained, “Once the gardiens de coutume [elders] have made that decision, you can't say anything different.” Civil society leader, interview, Walikale territory, DRC, 27 June 2011. A number of interviews with civil society leaders were conducted in Walikale territory, in April, June and July 2011 and in June 2012.

19 Interviews conducted by the author revealed that six members of the community who had been instrumental in conveying the mass rape narrative following the Luvungi attack in summer 2010 were relocated. Civil society leaders, interviews, Walikale territory, DRC, 14 June 2012; International Committee of the Red Cross, interview, Goma, DRC, 15 June 2012. The author's further investigation suggests that the relocation is the result of anger expressed by the villagers at those they felt had instrumentalized them.

20 Civil society leader, interview, Walikale territory, DRC, 14 June 2012.

21 Elders, group interview, Luvungi village, DRC, 28 June 2011.

22 Lawyer, American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative, interview, Goma, DRC, 1 July 2011.

23 Health-care provider, interview, Walikale territory, DRC, 29 June 2011.

24 Maria Eriksson Baaz and Maria Stern, interview by email, 18 December 2012.

25 Jeffrey Gettleman, “Mass Rapes in Congo Reveals U.N. Weakness”, New York Times, 3 October 2010.

26 “UN Official Calls DR Congo ‘Rape Capital of the World’”, BBC, 28 April 2010, available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8650112.stm.

27 ■■■.

28 International aid worker, interview, Goma, DRC, 15 June 2012.

29 N. Douma and D. Hilhorst, above note 3.

30 Ibid., p. 37.

31 UN civilian staff member, interview by phone, 7 January 2013.

32 Ibid.

33 Former MONUSCO adviser on sexual violence, interview by phone, 18 December 2012.

34 Ibid.

35 M. Eriksson Baaz and M. Stern, The Complexity of Violence, above note 3.

36 Maria Eriksson Baaz and Maria Stern, interview by email, 18 December 2012.

37 N. Douma and D. Hilhorst, above note 3, p. 9.

38 Medical care providers and NGO staff members, interviews, 2011, 2012, 2013.

39 Shame and the emotional trauma of rape still undoubtedly influence how and whether women report attacks, and living with a fistula is socially stigmatizing, regardless of the origin. Therefore, the true cause of a patient's fistula can be difficult to ascertain – and is beside the point for the health providers treating these women.

40 N. Douma and D. Hilhorst, above note 3, p. 44.

41 Medical professional at HEAL Africa hospital, interview, 16 June 2012; Panzi Hospital researcher, interview by phone, 9 January 2013.

42 Medical professional at HEAL Africa hospital, interview, 16 June 2012; Panzi Hospital researcher, interview by phone, 9 January 2013.

43 Panzi Hospital researcher, interview by phone, 9 January 2013.

44 M. Eriksson Baaz and M. Stern, The Complexity of Violence, above note 3, p. 13.

45 David Bodeli Dombi, interview, Goma, DRC, 16 June 2012; civil society leaders, interview, Goma, DRC, 2012; Maria Eriksson Baaz and Maria Stern, interview by email, 18 December 2012.

46 N. Douma and D. Hilhorst, above note 3, p. 11.

47 Ibid., p. 59.

48 Ibid., p. 60.

49 Charles-Guy Mackongo, interview by email, 22 January 2013.

50 Ibid.

51 Séverine Autesserre, above note 3, p. 16.

52 Séverine Autesserre, interview by phone, 24 October 2014.

53 “North Kivu, Sexual Violence Targets Children”, HEAL Africa Press Dossier, 2012, available at: www.healafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/sexual-violence-targets-children-2012.pdf.

54 “Congo Rape Numbers Rise Dramatically”, The Guardian, 19 October 2012, available at: www.theguardian.com/world/2012/oct/19/congo-rape-number-rise-rebels.

55 Former MONUSCO adviser on sexual violence, interview by phone, 18 December 2012.

56 Human Security Report 2012, above note 3, p. 52.

57 Ibid., p. 7.

58 David Bodeli Dombi, interview, Goma, DRC, 16 June 2012.

59 Ibid.