Women fight for peace and reconciliation

The spectacular, lush green hills at an elevation of about 1700m stretch all the way to the horizon. The landscape is impressive, as are the women in the region of the African Great Lakes. Joséphine* is one of them. As morning dawns in her little brick house surrounded by maize and banana plants, she sings in a voice filled with emotion: "Today I accept myself as I am. I am invincible and I am happy again. All those who abandoned me feel regret and shame, when they see how brave I am."

In the afternoon, Joséphine and two dozen other women meet around a table stacked with paper and notebooks at a place not far from Walungu. It is the main town of Walungu territory situated on the border of South Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo). All the women are survivors of severe sexual violence, but they have overcome their trauma and even drawn strength in the process. They now fight for women’s rights and advocate for peace.

Initially, they were given medical, psycho-social and legal support. Subsequently, the women's network Réseau des Femmes pour la Défense des Droits et la Paix (RFDP) with assistance from the SDC offered literacy classes and imparted basic knowledge about their fundamental rights along with leadership training. "I can now read election posters and can't be fooled so easily any longer," says Joséphine.

"The assistance we received has helped us to walk tall again and support one another," adds Célestine. The survivors formed a Mutuelle de Solidarité (MUSO) and save money through this savings and credit cooperative so that every member can get a loan when needed to grow their business and enhance their income. "I felt detached from my body and had lost all my self-esteem. MUSO gave that back to me," says Célestine.

The women also actively participate in committees for peace – Comités d’Alerte pour la Paix (CAP) – that support other survivors. They accompany these women for medical treatment and report rapes and abductions to local government officials. Posters are printed to name and shame the perpetrators and warn the community. The warning is also spread through social networks. This helps to get the matter investigated.

In eastern DR Congo, women's bodies have been a battleground for over a quarter of a century. A massive number of rapes in this vast country occurred during the two wars between 1996 and 2003. In Ituri and also in North and South Kivu, such attacks have become a permanent problem.

The region is located at the border between Burundi, Uganda and Rwanda, and clashes frequently take place between the regular armies, militias supported by one or other country, separatist movements and armed groups commanded by local warlords. Over a hundred armed groups are fighting against one other to control at least part of this territory and profit from its natural resources. Every hillside has been ravaged by horrors: rapes, abductions, murders and looting.

Towards the end of 2021, the M23 movement (Mouvement du 23 mars) comprising former Tutsi rebels from the DR Congo took up arms once again. 131 people are believed to have been killed during a massacre last November. Kinshasa accused Rwanda of supporting the rebels, although this was rejected by Kigali. United Nations experts confirm that there is "substantial evidence" to prove the "direct intervention of Rwandan Defence Forces (RDF) on the territory of the DR Congo". The armed forces of the DR Congo (FARDC), in turn, support and work with armed groups in violation of the sanctions regime imposed by the UN. The attacks in North Kivu are continuing despite a ceasefire being declared.

In the hills of Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu, where Lake Kivu and the River Ruzizi form the border to Rwanda, everything appears calm and peaceful. Yet the underlying violence due to the constant resurgence of armed conflicts is unmistakeable. Week after week, mutilated women and girls seek shelter in a secluded enclave of peace: Panzi Hospital, founded by its director Denis Mukwege in 1999. The Congolese gynaecologist has been denouncing the atrocities in his country for over two decades and received the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in 2018.

One wing of the hospital is dedicated to treating victims of sexual violence and patients with severe gynaecological disorders. Every week about 40 women and girls are operated on here. Recently, Kenny Raha, a gynaecologist and obstetrician, helped Professor Mukwege to "repair" a three-year-old child. Terror knows no age: victims range from infants a few months old to 80-year-old women. The physical injuries to the rectum, bladder, perineum and of course the vagina are severe. "Recently, there was a woman with bullets in her vagina. The entire reproductive system can be destroyed by something like that," says the doctor.

Apart from physical injuries, sexual violence can result in HIV/AIDS, unwanted pregnancies and serious complications for reproductive health, along with psychological disorders, such as anxiety, nightmares and psychosomatic pain. "Rape is an invasion of the body that shakes the sense of self and kills identity. There is a constant feeling of being soiled. This is what causes depression among survivors and dissociation when they are confronted with their bodies. It shrivels up because it no longer has worth." explains Samuel Musisiva, a clinical psychologist and researcher at the Centre d'Excellence Denis Mukwege (CEDM), which is dedicated to research on the status of women.

The victims feel shame and guilt. They are stigmatised and often disowned by their – similarly traumatised – families and community. "Rape is a powerful weapon during war to break the spirit of the local population," says Cécilia Agino Foussiakda, a researcher at the CEDM. "Rape occurs in the fields and forests where women attend to their daily chores. More often, it takes place at home, in front of the children and the spouse," she says. The head of the family who is unable to protect his wife feels powerless and loses face. "He no longer feels like a man. He has been neutralised and can no longer fight – it's a very deliberate strategy."

However the aggressors are no longer just combatants following a strategy. They also include civilians. The little girl operated on by Dr Raha was raped by a 'friend' of the family. "Sexual violence has afflicted our society, and it is spreading like a cancer."

In the Great Lakes region, decades of conflict have decimated families and the social fabric, and destroyed norms and values. "The communities are still living with deep wounds that lead to violence," says Béatrice Barandereka, who supports rape survivors at the Seruka Centre in Burundi. "This behaviour is the result of a patriarchal system in which women have a lower status." Women must stay at home to look after the children and household, and they are systematically discriminated against in every sphere. Inequality begins at an early age: boys are more likely to be sent to school than girls.

In Burundi and Rwanda, the precarious situation of girls is widely evident. Rapes of minors are on the rise coupled with unwanted pregnancies as well as domestic violence. Anita from Burundi experienced this with her husband. She is 37 years old and the mother of four children. "I was just crying all the time; I stopped bathing and grooming myself," she says. She took part in workshops for community healing organised under the SDC's regional psycho-social programmes (see article). "They were like medicine for me. When I noticed that it was making me well I realised that one has to heal the problem." She now conducts workshops herself and has become a reference person, like many other women from the verdant Gahaga hills in the north-western part of Burundi who are role models for change.

The work they have done recently led to the women and their hill receiving an award. They won second prize in a competition against sexual and gender-based violence organised by the NGO Care International together with the Burundian authorities. The prize was a motorcycle that the community had wished for to transport rape victims to the hospital.

Euphrem Ndikumasabo, a local administrative officer, has observed significant changes taking place. "The community has calmed down. Previously, rape was a taboo subject, something that was hushed up. Now people feel sympathy for the survivors and understand how to reach out to them. Each individual case is of concern to all." As the slogan on the back of Philomène's orange t-shirt says: Don't keep silent about violence against women. Philomène is 48 years old and is from Kankuba in Rwanda, about 10km from Kigali. Last November she participated in the programme against gender-based violence. She has now become a moderator, identifying women in her village who are victims of violence. She convinces them to take part in healing workshops that she once participated in herself.

During the genocide in 1994, which led to a bloodbath in her country, she was beaten and raped. Most members of her family were killed. She fled to the DR Congo and married a Rwandan who was later sentenced for genocide. "I was forced to pay off all my husband's debts. There was nothing left for me and my children. I was devastated and felt my life was over. Initially during the workshops, I was unable to talk about my experience. Then I began to trust and was able to forgive the person who had abused me. I even visited him in prison. He asked for forgiveness and I accepted. If people don't forgive each other the war could start again tomorrow," she says. Her mission is to "sensitise communities to all types of violence."

In the Great Lakes region, it is women who are initiating reconciliation and helping to overcome tensions. "They are the driving force behind change. But although they are the pillars of society and the economy, they are not involved in decision-making processes," observes Boris Maver, head of the Swiss cooperation office in Burundi. "The men still need to appreciate the role that women can play." In the meantime the women resolutely continue with their work. Sharing their stories with other survivors gives them strength. They stand by each other and work for peace.

* Only the first names of survivors have been used to provide some anonymity.