The Weapon Of Rape In Congo

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Rape has been a constant feature of warfare throughout history and in today’s society. In fact is a systematic and brutal weapon that is used mainly against women in the world. In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), rape has been one of the most productive weapons of the civil war that has affected the country’s eastern provinces since nineteen ninety-eight. In this research paper, I would be discussing the prevalence and consequences of sexual violence; rape in the eastern democratic republic of Congo, including a few factors, particularly, the impact of colonization, poverty and impunity, together with some responses that contribute to its development.
In the reading, ‘’The Weapon of Rape’’ by Nicholas Krist, she contends, how the eastern
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As previously stated prior to the conflicts of the nineteen nineties, Congo 's economy was crashed because they were dependent on Belgium. As a result of the economy 's downfall, many other complications broke out from that. For instance the lack of proper governance and poor infrastructure. Nevertheless such attributes are what can be interpolated as Impunity, which is another contributing factor to sexual violence. The word impunity is also defined by various dictionaries as an exemption from punishment or freedom from the injurious consequences of an action. (merriam webster n.d.)In addition to that many researchers have argued that the democratic republic of Congo is viewed as ' ' failed state ' ' due to its lack of infractures; including poor health, and education. Furthermore, in the article, ‘‘Congo; rape, savagery, and stereotypes, the crisis in the Congo, uncovering the truth ' ' by Adam Hochschild, he highlights that DRC is the largest territory on earth which does not have a functioning government. This idea of impunity arises a result of Congo not having a strong rule of law, which initially was deconstructed by the Belgium. Hence, therefore making it difficult for the governmental institutions and judiciary to hold perpetrators of human rights abuses accountable for their crimes. In addition, he takes this argument further by suggesting that the armed forces of the DRC are as responsible for human rights violations as the rebel groups are. conveying that, ‘’when the Congolese national army controls an area or controls a gold mine or coltan mining site, it 's no different in terms of how it treats people than the rebel groups are. The army, along with many other national structures in the DRC, is in a state of decay. ' ' (French n.d.) Similarly, the reading, "The rape" of Mr. Smith depicts how rape reports on legalistic grounds are hardly ever reported to courts, making

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