by Kimia Pakdaman

Opinion Editor
      Since the end of the Rwandan Genocide in 1994, when Tutsi and Hutu groups violently killed each other to achieve ethnic “purity,” Tutsi and Hutu armies have occupied the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), setting off tensions with local Congolese militias, especially in the east. The most prominent weapon that the Tutsi, Hutu, and other terrorists have used against civilians in the DRC has been mutilation and rape. Clashes between the Congolese government and Laurent Nkunda have raised hostilities between the two countries. Nkunda, a Tutsi general, said that he is protecting the eastern Congolese Tutsi population from Hutu militias, but it appears that his militia is not just protecting, but also terrorizing the Congolese people. The Tutsi and Hutu people do not only originate from Rwanda, but also the Congo. John Holmes, a coordinator for UN relief operations, is pushing for a political solution to these underlying problems left over from the Rwandan Genocide.

      Many women have been raped publicly and have been forced to watch the murders of their husbands. “It’s the scale and brutality of it,” said Holmes. “It’s the use of [rape] as a weapon of terror. It’s the way it’s done publicly, for maximum humiliation.” Hundreds of women are raped on a daily basis, even though the war is officially over. Different horrifying accounts are reported each day, ranging from being raped for several days to watching the mutilation of bodies. Sarah Mosely, who oversees International Rescue Committee (IRC) programs for rape survivors in eastern Congo, said that the attacks have been so frequent that families in the north cross into Uganda at night to sleep in the forest; it is safer than staying at home.

     Villages and camps have been set up by international groups, such as the IRC, to provide communities for the women who have experience the horror of the ongoing battle. Eve Ensler, playwright of The Vagina Monologues, has become outspoken about the violence against these women in the Congo. “If we as humanity fail to rise up and stand for the women in the Congo, we will see the spread of this kind of violence. It will affect all of us,” Ensler told Unicef Television. Ensler founded V-Day, a global movement to stop violence against women. Through donations and volunteer work, the V-Day movement can help create safe communities for the oppressed women not only in the Congo, but all over the world. Ensler commented, “The hope is in the survivors. Those women are the strongest, fiercest, bravest women. We need to support them.”

(Source: NPR, The Brown and White News, Yahoo! News, Washington Post, Unicef Television, International Rescue Committee)