Rape In The Congo

The consequences of rape leave ample room for the armed forces, militia, rebel group, or a group of armed men to come within a community destroy a family by gang rape and loot the land. Rape disrupts culture in such a way that husbands might be too emotionally disturbed to work immediately after hearing such news, which is beneficial for the rebel groups who come to terrorize society and steal minerals simultaneously. The fear that comes from mass rapes is undeniable. When this scare tactic is being utilized within a community, people flee, further enabling the armed groups to steal, rape, and pillage the community. (War Child , n.d.). When asked the consequences of rape within the Congo, Nicholas replied, ‘that raping stuff they know what …show more content…
These include the Lord’s Resistance Army from Uganda, and the M23 from Rwanda. The FDLR who are located inside the DRC have also been held responsible for these atrocities. There are numerous reasons for the pervasiveness of rape within the Congo. The soldiers who rape women are often times paid rather poorly, and infrequently, if paid at all. This has led to soldiers desperate for an income, which is then gained from exploitation of the community, and due to poor governance the soldiers are able to ‘live off of the land’ (War Child , n.d.). The income gained from the exploitation of the families within the DRC would not be possible without the heavy influence of fear tactics. It is plausible that the armed groups would not have been able to gain a strong following if it not for the looting, coupled with violence, and threats on the community (War Child , n.d.). The Congolese military and various militias within the DRC are known to terrorize the mining areas with their presence in order to gain unfettered access to the mineral wealth. The brute force tactics used by several groups makes it difficult to quantify and analyse the ‘true perpetrators’ of rape in conflict, especially due to the impunity of the multitude of militia present within the country. This lack of retribution for crimes is evident in the low numbers of convictions for rape. (Human Rights Watch , …show more content…
There is a plethora of accounts on rape as a method of war to the extent that rape has become synonymous to name of the country. Although, there are statistics on the number of women who have been raped in the country—these cannot be trusted as accurate. What is well known and researched are the effects of rape on the community, the areas in which sexual violence against women occurs, and the accounts of women and their personal reflections on being raped. In this chapter, I will discuss the aforementioned topics as I connect the prevalence of rape to the mineral conflict in the