By Fatos Baudouin
(Ms. Baudouin is a member of the Africa Study Group. She is active as an international consultant)
"War is an inherently patriarchal activity, and rape is one of the most extreme expressions of the patriarchal drive towards masculine domination over the woman. This patriarchal ideology is further enforced by the aggressive character of the war itself that is to dominate and control another nation or people."
(Rashida Manjoo and Calleigh Mc Raith: 2010 symposium, Gander Base Violence and justice in conflict and post conflict areas)
The ongoing war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DCR) has led to a dramatic increase in sexual violence against women, children and young people in the eastern part of the country. According to the International Rescue Committee (IRC), the conflict has, since its origin in 1998, generated over 3.8 million victims, some 3.4 million IDPs (Internationally displaced people) and millions of refugees.
Today peace remains tentative, particularly in the eastern provinces. As military activities continue to be carried out in that region, so are rapes and other crimes against women, children and young girls.
