CPTnet
2 December 2006
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: Giving Congolese women a voice
By Judy Amunga
[Amunga, of Nairobi, Kenya, participated in a recent CPT delegation to
Eastern Congo.]
Women have borne the brunt of the cruel devastation of this war and still
live with huge scars. The Interahamwe (Hutu militia) raped Mawazo full
view of her family then shot her in her uterus. Malaika was raped by five
men. She begged for mercy from the fifth, who shot her in the uterus; then
she lost her mind. She has been lucky to receive some psycho-social support
through the Lutheran Church in Bukavu.
Other women have not been as lucky. Upendo has no husband, no education and
no shelter. Since her rape by the rebel groups, her husband chased her away,
saying he had no use for her. Eighty percent of the women in Eastern Congo
are also illiterate and cannot therefore access the funds trickling in to
help the area get development.
In Bukavu, an urban town, one finds educated women, some of whom competed
in the recently held general elections. These women have vowed to rebuild
their society . They are filling an important gap by helping the victims of
sexual crimes access help and assisting in bringing known perpetrators of
the sexual violence to justice. They live under constant death threats
because of her work.
The Church in the Eastern Congo plays a pivotal role in bringing people
together as well as rebuilding families and offering hope through their
teachings. In a country where the basic political unit had been reaped apart
through so much gender-based violence, it is a story of hope that the church
has embraced so many outcasts.
Even the government during these elections recognized the role of the church
and involved many Christian leaders to be polling agents.
Like all good things however, abuse is beginning to creep into church and
rural women complain that some men in their churches have all the leadership
positions and control the way funds flow into their rural based projects.
The women ask that their stories be heard and ask that they in the
Democratic Republic of Congo be left to till their fertile land, run their
projects, sing their songs, worship and just enjoy peace as they reconstruct
their society. Their specific plea is for those who were raped and violated
to receive trauma and counseling.
In the meantime, churches are brimming to the full, atop each hill is a
church, women step out in elegance and children are still being born. These
are signs that this dignified society will go on as women and sing with
gladness, as they find therapy, hoping that in the Father's name, the
international community shall hear their voices.
The women plead for peace, for a chance to be allowed to choose the fabric
and cut it according to their taste and furnish their bodies and their homes
with hope and song.
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