Citation

Breton-Le Goff G. Fletcher Forum World Aff. 2010; 34(1): 13-40.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Sexual violence in the DRC has a long history of social acceptance. Throughout various conflicts, the different governments and the military chiefs failed to respect humanitarian law. At least five million people have been killed during the conflicts, and an unknown number of women, girls, boys, and men have been victims of sexual violence. Over the years, international organizations, European and North American countries, and international and local NGOs have invested a large amount of money and energy into fighting sexual violence. However, the multiplicity of initiatives, undertaken by many different actors, dilutes their efforts, while onerous bureaucratic criteria for the allocation of funds and grants serve to exclude local NGOs from counseling and victim aid programs. In addition, the political situation is so complex, economic interests are so important, and the security situation is so volatile that the impact of initiatives aimed at fighting sexual violence are limited. Despite a great interest by the international community on issues of sexual violence, Congolese women’s rights NGOs feel disillusioned because the efforts of the international community have not improved the situation.