The global, the ethnic and the gendered war: women and rape in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to illuminate the perspectives of women who experienced sexual violence perpetrated in the warscapes of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Civilians are targeted for rape, loot and pillage yielding deleterious effects on the social fabric and the sustenance the community provides. The article is based on 11 qualitative semistructured interviews and 4 written narratives from women of reproductive age, recruited from organizations providing support post-sexual violation. The study departs from a larger ethnographic project investigating the phenomenon of war-rape. Thematic analysis guided the analysis through the theoretical lenses of structural violence and intersectionality. The women expressed total insecurity and a multitude of losses from bodily integrity, health, loss of family, life course possibilities, livelihoods and a sense of place; a profound dispossession of identity and marginalization. Pregnancies resulting from rape reinforced stigma and burdened the survivor with raising a stigmatized child on the margins of society. Perpetrators of rape were mostly identified as Interhamwe (Rwandan Hutus rebels) who entered Congo after the Rwandan genocide in 1994. Their goal, according to the women, was to spread HIV and impregnate Congolese women, thereby destroying families, communities and society. The women survivors of war-rape described experiences of profound loss in this conflict which has global, ethnic and gendered dimensions. Congo's conflict thus requires critical reflection on how local wars and subsequent human suffering are situated in a matrix of globalization processes, enabled by transnational actors and embedded in structural violence.

La guerra global, étnica y de género: mujeres y violación en la República Democrática del Congo

El propósito de este estudio fue echar luz sobre las perspectivas de las mujeres que experimentaron violencia sexual perpetrada en paisajes de guerra del este de la República Democrática del Congo. Lxs civiles son blanco de violación, saqueo y pillaje, lo que produce efectos dañinos sobre el tejido social y el sostén que provee la comunidad. El artículo está basado en once entrevistas semiestructuradas y cuatro narraciones escritas de mujeres en edad reproductiva, reclutadas de organizaciones que proveen apoyo post violación sexual. El estudio parte de un proyecto de investigación etnográfico más amplio que investiga el fenómeno de la violación en la guerra. El análisis temático guió el análisis a través de la óptica teórica de la violencia estructural y la interseccionalidad. Las mujeres expresaron una inseguridad total y una multitud de pérdidas, desde la integridad corporal, la salud, la pérdida de la familia, posibilidades en el rumbo de su vida, de medios de vida y un sentido de lugar; una profunda desposesión de la identidad y marginalización. Los embarazos que resultan de la violación reforzaron el estigma y cargaron a la sobreviviente con la crianza de un/a niñx estigmatizadx en los márgenes de la sociedad. Los violadores fueron mayormente identificados como Interhamwe (rebeldes hutu de Ruanda) que ingresaron en el Congo luego del genocidio en Ruanda en 1994. Su objetivo, según las mujeres, era de diseminar el VIH y embarazar a las mujeres congolesas, y así destruir a las familias, las comunidades y la sociedad. Las mujeres sobrevivientes de la violación de guerra describieron experiencias de profunda pérdida en el conflicto que tiene dimensiones globales, étnicas y de género. El conflicto en el Congo por lo tanto requiere una reflexión crítica sobre cómo las guerras locales y el consecuente sufrimiento humano están situados en una matriz de procesos de globalización, habilitados por actores transnacionales e insertos en la violencia estructural.

全球、种族与性别化的战争：刚果民主共和国东部的女性与强暴

本研究的目的，在于描绘刚果民主共和国东部的战争地景中，经历性暴力犯罪的女性之视角。公民成为性侵害、抢劫与掠夺的目标，并对社会结构与社群所提供的生计，造成致命的影响。本研究根据针对生育年龄的女性们所进行的十一次半结构式质性访谈与四个书写叙事，受访者则是透过提供性侵后支持之团体募得。本研究始于一个探讨战争—性侵现象的较广大民族志计画。主题分析，引导透过结构暴力与相互交织性的理论视角之分析。这些女性表达了全然的不安全感，以及从身体的完整性、健康、失去家庭、生命轨迹的可能性、生计到地方感等众多面向的遗失——一种深刻的认同剥夺与边缘化。由强暴所导致的怀孕，强化了耻辱，而扶养遭受污名化的小孩，则加重了身处社会边缘的受暴生还者的负担。强暴的犯罪者，多半被指认为联攻派民兵（卢安达的胡图族反叛者），这些人在1994年卢安达大屠杀发生后进入了刚果。根据这些女性的说法，这些民兵的目标，便是传播爱滋病、并使刚果女性受孕，藉此摧毁家庭、社区与社会。战争强暴的女性生还者，描述了在这些冲突中的深刻遗失经验，并有着全球、种族和性别化的面向。刚果的冲突，因此需要批判地性反思在地战争，以及随之而来的人类苦难，是如何座落在由跨国行动者所促成、并深植于结构暴力之中的全球化过程之基础上。

Keywords::

• sexual violence
• gender
• war
• Democratic Republic of Congo
• structural violence
• globalization processes

Palabras claves::

• violencia sexual
• género
• guerra
• República Democrática del Congo
• violencia estructural
• procesos de globalización

关键词::

• 性暴力
• 性别
• 战争
• 刚果民主共和国
• 结构暴力
• 全球化过程

Acknowledgments

A profound appreciation to the women who accepted to be interviewed and shared their experiences; also to Dr Denis Mukwege, Murhabazi Namegabe, Kubisa Muzenende, Jules Chitera, Rehema Chofi, Sifa Rose Chitera, George Ruhimbasa and Mufariji Assy Nkuba.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Vårdforskningsmedel and Smålands nation, Uppsala University.

Notes on contributors

Jill Trenholm

Jill Trenholm was a doctoral candidate at the time of writing who shared her time between the Medical Faculty: Women's and Children's Health, International Maternal and Child Health unit and at the Centre for Gender Research at Uppsala University in Sweden. Her doctoral project was an ethnographic study titled Women's Violation, Lost Children and Traumatized Masculinities; investigating war rape in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). She has worked for years as a registered nurse in trauma as well as sexual assault and domestic violence while also completing an undergraduate degree in Peace and Conflict Studies in Canada. She has two other publications concerning this topic: Battles on Women's Bodies; Perspectives of Local Leaders on War Rape in DRC and Constructing Soldiers from Boys in DRC, an exploration of male ex-child soldiers and the perpetration of sexual violence. She successfully defended her thesis in September 2013.

Pia Olsson

Pia Olsson is originally a nurse-midwife and currently works as an associate Professor in International Health at Uppsala University in Sweden, at the Medical Faculty in Women's and Children's Health, International Maternal and Child Health unit. She has extensive experience in qualitative research that focuses on sexual and reproductive health in Sweden, Finland as well as in other countries within Africa and Asia.

Martha Blomqvist

Martha Blomqvist is an Associate Professor at the Centre for Gender Research at Uppsala University. Her work has focused on the intersections of gender in work and organization predominantly in the Swedish context.

Beth Maina Ahlberg

Beth Maina Ahlberg is Professor of International Health with Sociology background at the Department of Women's and Children's Health, Unit of International Health, Uppsala University. She is also head of research at the Skaraborg Institute for Research and Development. She has extensive experience in research in countries in eastern and southern Africa and in Sweden. Her particular focus has been on methodological issues in the study of sexual and reproductive health, gender issues as well as migration and health.