TFV

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui face counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for sexual slavery and rape committed since 1 July, 2002. In Uganda, Joseph Kony, Vincent Otti, Okot Odhiambo and Dominic Ongwen are wanted for similar alleged crimes.

Rape is still endemic in parts of the DRC. In 2005, the New York Times had labelled it “the worst place on earth to be a woman.” Still today, some 1,100 rapes are reported each month in the DRC’s eastern provinces, with an average of 36 women and girls raped every day according to the Secretary-General’s latest report on the implementation of UN Resolution 1325 (September 2009).¹ Most experts, however, regard this statistic as deflated.

The same report noted a “substantial increase” in reported incidents in areas controlled by rebel groups and the recently integrated Congolese army (FARDC).^{2, 3} Between January and May of this year, Human Rights Watch documented 250 cases of rape in North Kivu, 143 of which (57%) were committed by FARDC soldiers.⁴ According to the UN’s Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, “alarm bells are ringing loudly in the DRC.”⁵

In northern Uganda, sexual violence can take several forms, but two predominate. On the one hand, victims of LRA and UPDF soldiers still live with the consequences of violence in the form of psychological trauma, lost years of education, stigma, physical handicaps and much more. During the conflict, at least 85% of girls who arrived at the Gulu Trauma Centre for former LRA abductees had contracted sexually transmitted infections (STIs) during their captivity.⁶

On the other hand, as is too often the case in post-conflict settings, SGBV can transition from “public” violence to the more “private” realm of domestic violence.⁷ In 2005, UNICEF found that 60% of women and girls in Gulu district’s Pabbo IDP camp had been “physically and sexually assaulted, threatened and humiliated by the men in whom they have the greatest trust.”

The TFV considers its assistance to victims of SGBV a key step toward ending impunity for human rights abusers, establishing durable peace and reconciliation in conflict settings, and successfully implementing United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1325, 1820, and 1889.

A woman staying at the DORCAS transitional home for SGBV survivors in Bukavu, South Kivu. She was seen at Panzi Hospital and now lives at the home, where she receives classes in literacy and vocational training, and micro-credit from TFV implementing partner Action for Living Together. Source: ALT

In 2000, the United Nations Security Council recognised for the first time the disproportionate and unique impact of armed conflict on women with the unanimous passage of Resolution 1325. Highlighting the “under-valued and under-utilised contributions that women make to conflict prevention, peacekeeping, conflict resolution and peace-building,” the Resolution stressed the necessity of women’s equal and full participation throughout all of these processes.⁸

Eight years later, the Security Council unanimously recognised one of the most vicious impediments to 1325’s successful implementation: the systematic use of rape as a weapon of war. Resolution 1820 recognised that rape and other forms of sexual violence have reached “appalling levels of brutality,” and are used “to humiliate, dominate, instil fear in, disperse and/or forcibly relocate civilian members of a community or ethnic group."

The Security Council also recognised the role sexual violence plays in exacerbating armed conflict: destroying social safety nets, preventing victims’ full integration and participation in public life, and impeding the restoration of peace and security. This October, the Council again affirmed the key role women play in rebuilding war-torn societies with the unanimous adoption of Resolution 1889, calling on UN bodies, donors and civil society to focus on women’s empowerment and protection during post-conflict needs assessments, planning, and programming.

¹ http://www.securitycouncilreport.org/atf/cf/%7B65BFCF9B-6D27-4E9C-8CD3-CF6E4FF96FF9%7D/WPS%20S%202009%20465.pdf

² In 2009, a rapid integration process in North Kivu swelled the army’s ranks in eastern DRC to an estimated 60,000 soldiers with the addition of 12,000 combatants from former rebel groups.

³ http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2009/07/16/soldiers-who-rape-commanders-wh..., p.

⁴ http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2009/07/16/soldiers-who-rape-commanders-wh..., p.

⁵ http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?

⁶ http://www.peacewomen.org/news/Uganda/July05/VAW.htm

⁷ http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTCPR/Resources/30494GenderConflicta..., p. xxi

⁸ http://www.peacewomen.org/un/UN1325/1325index.html

TFV Response

The TFV informs its approach to programming through the IASC’s Gender Handbook⁹ and the Nairobi Declaration and includes broad steps like gender mainstreaming, gender-based needs analyses, participation, and human rights-based approaches across its programming. It also programmes projects specifically targeted to survivors of SGBV, taking care to promote women’s and girls’ empowerment and addressing the specific needs of victims in different age groups.

Under the Rome Statute, rape and other forms of sexual violence can constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity, or constitutive acts with respect to genocide. As part of its mission to assist victims of crimes under the jurisdiction of the ICC return to a dignified and contributory life within their communities, the TFV set in place two processes in 2008/09: (1) mainstreaming a gender-based perspective across all of its programming and (2) initiating targeted responses to SGBV against women, men, and children.

Of its 29 active projects, the TFV is supporting eight organisations – three international and five national – to implement seven projects in northern Uganda and the DRC. Three of these were made possible by direct support from the Norwegian Government.

The trauma associated with sexual violence is material, psychological, social, and physical. To meet the needs associated with this violence, all seven of the TFV’s projects seek to promote survivors’ holistic rehabilitation and reintegration through responses that combine four types of assistance:

• Material support: safe shelter, vocational training, reintegration kits, micro-credit, education grants, classes in accelerated literacy, and more;
• Psychological rehabilitation: trauma-based counselling (both individual and group), community reconciliation meetings, and more;
• Community sensitization: radio broadcasts, drama, and information sessions to educate community members and leaders about SGBV and the rights of victims, and more;
• Referrals to services: referrals to services like fistula repair, services for STIs, HIV and/or AIDS, and more - in south Kivu, our partner is working with Panzi Hospital.

⁹ The IASC Guidelines provide humanitarian actors with a set of minimum interventions in all sectors to prevent and respond to gender-based violence.

Material Support

In South Kivu (DRC), the TFV is supporting Action for Living Together (ALT), active in Bukavu since 1999. ALT works with Bukavu’s Panzi General Hospital, where it runs the DORCAS transitional house for victims of SGBV who are unable to return home after their treatment. Panzi General Hospital treats at least 10 victims of sexual assault daily, averaging 3,600 cases a year. An estimated 16,000 victims of rape, some suffering from obstetric fistula, have been treated at the hospital since 2000. Survivors are able to stay at the transitional house for as long as they need, and are provided classes in reading, writing and handicraft production.

Beneficiaries of ALT’s micro-credit scheme. Source: ALT

ALT is also providing small loans to survivors through a micro-lending programme that gradually increases the amount of money individuals receive (starting at $30 and increasing up to $80). Of those receiving loans, 33% are at the $30 level, 32% at $50, 25% at $60 and the remaining 10% at $80. Survivors are using the money to start small income generating activities: selling items at the market, catering, tailoring, and other activities that traditionally depend on a minimum amount of capital. This system provides a number of advantages over single lump-sum loans, principally by reducing the risk of borrowing money, while at the same time helping women build valuable skills in financial management.

ALT is also providing 784 children (two per project beneficiary) with small grants to attend school. You can read more about this component in our spotlight on children & youth.

A teacher of basket weaving at ALT’s transitional home for SGBV survivors. Source: ALT

In North Kivu and Bunia, four other projects are providing similar forms of material support that combine vocational training with supplies needed for a range of small businesses: baking, tailoring, selling goods at the market, catering, and more. Survivors work with each organisation to select an activity of their choice. One of our confidential partners, for instance, is utilising reintegration kits for 193 victims of SGBV (including seven male victims) to help survivors gain both sustainable sources of livelihood and meaningful roles within their communities. The kits can take a variety of forms, including sowing machines, cooking oil, pots, pans, animals, cloth and more, depending on each beneficiary’s chosen activity.

This partner, whose name is kept confidential for purposes of security, described to the TFV the kinds of violence its 193 project beneficiaries have experienced: rape, sexual slavery, forced labour, and more. In some cases, women were used as human shields in battle. Some were raped by several perpetrators at once, in one case by 10 armed men. Others were forced to witness the brutal murder of a loved one in their home. In the majority of cases, our partner tells us, the attackers pillaged almost all possessions.

Together, the project’s kits and counselling provide survivors with a means to both regain their livelihoods and take on productive roles within their communities and families. This last function is key, as another TFV partner, working in North Kivu, pointed out in its most recent report:

“We have observed a significant change for the better in 141 subjects. The symptoms that the victims were suffering from have noticeably decreased and they have begun to recall their memories of the traumatic events that they experienced. We attribute this success to several factors such as regular visits to the beneficiaries, psychological support techniques, the positive involvement of the parents of child victims and the wider family circle, the medical treatment received, and the socio-economic reintegration through learning trades and the supply of a start-up kit.

However, 16 subjects are still suffering from profound trauma with no signs of improvement. This is explained largely by the lack of positive involvement from their close family. Worthlessness and total despair prevails in these patients [with] the additional stresses of stigmatization and the solitude for those who live alone.”

Psychological Counselling

Psychological care is vital to helping survivors take advantage of the material support they receive. The trauma associated with rape and other forms of sexual violence is deep and enduring, but it is not insurmountable. The testimony below from Oyam District comes from a woman from northern Uganda. Congolese by nationality, she is receiving assistance from the TFV’s partner COOPI, which maintains a counselling centre for victims of rape, physical abuse, harassment and more in Oyam district. It highlights both the trauma of sexual violence and the hope that can come with proper treatment and support. It also reflects the extent to which crimes of sexual violence can pervade war-torn societies even after conflict has subsided.

Every organisation working with the TFV has case workers, social workers, and counsellors on staff to work with victims. The TFV’s confidential partner in North Kivu, for example, employs an in-house psychologist to work directly with staff from the TFV’s three sub-grantees. This includes training in therapy, interview techniques and more. As part of her assistance, the trainer also works directly with some of the most traumatised of the 550 survivors receiving support through this set of projects.

One woman was raped by a demobilized soldier in North Kivu. At first, when the counsellor sat with her to hear her story, she could not speak. She could only communicate with gestures. According to the counsellor, she would lock herself in the bedroom and cry every day, “disgusted by life.” At first, she refused treatment, but eventually opened up, speaking first to the counsellor about her trauma and then to the group of women the counsellor regularly brought together to share their stories. Before treatment, she told them, her heart would beat uncontrollably fast. She was consumed by panic attacks. Now, she says, her “heart is healed.” In her latest group session, she shared that she had come to forgive the man who raped her, and with the worst of the depression and stress behind her is now focusing on building the tailoring business she has established with help from the TFV.

Another woman from a small village outside Goma was raped by three armed men in 2008 when they attacked her home. After the rape, she was rejected by her husband and forced to leave behind her house and eight children. The three men, she told the counsellor, “brought me halfway to death.” She was treated at a referral hospital in Goma and later identified by the TFV’s partner as a potential beneficiary of the TFV’s non-Court ordered assistance. Even being identified was a moving experience, she recalled. “It reminded me that there are others who care.” The TFV’s partner is providing her with individual and group-based trauma counselling and has helped her establish a small farming business with tools and seeds. Already, this assistance has enabled her to return home. She told the counsellor that she has come to forgive her husband for rejecting her and, in turn, has asked for his acceptance. “I asked for his forgiveness and he received me,” she said. Now, she has planted her first round of seeds and is working with the TFV’s partner to maintain her crop, which she will later bring to market.

Community Sensitization

To combat the stigma associated with SGBV, the TFV also supports implementing partners to conduct sensitization projects in their wider communities. These take many forms, including radio broadcasts, drama, information sessions, and more.

In South Kivu, for instance, ALT sees its beneficiaries’ full success as partly dependent on the attitudes and understanding of their family and community members. It is utilising its expertise in SGBV to broadcast radio shows about sexual violence and the rights of survivors. So far, ten shows have aired, including:

• An explanation of ALT’s mission and activities;
• Stories of reconciliation and conflict resolution between victims of SGBV and their communities and families;
• Stories about the products being sold by ALT beneficiaries with their micro-credit;
• Stories about the children receiving help from ALT to attend school;
• Information about the relationship between women’s rights and Human Rights;
• Information about the state of sexual violence in South Kivu; and
• Information about the role that political and religious authorities can play to help reduce sexual violence in South Kivu.

In northern Uganda, COOPI is helping direct Uganda’s Gender-Based Violence Information System, and is holding regular coordination meetings with other agencies in Oyam District. It is also working with community leaders to inform them about the prevalence of rape and other forms of SGBV in northern Uganda. The COOPI “Sensitization Team” has moved through 5 different sub-counties in Oyam District, so far reaching 2,114 people. Of these, 510 were specifically selected as women leaders, youth leaders, religious leaders, and local authorities to receive a more detailed full-day training.

One such participant is a member of the child protection committee in an Oyam sub-county. He had this to say to COOPI’s project staff about the impact of their training:

“I attended a one-day training on sexual and gender based violence organised by COOPI for local leaders. We discussed the types, causes and consequences of SGBV, both for individuals and the community. As leaders we also learned how we can refer survivors of SGBV to services like COOPI’s. Since the training, I have begun referring survivors from my parish to COOPI’s centre, where they can receive counselling and treatment. Most are survivors of rape and physical assault.

I have also mobilized other community members to attend the sensitization workshops. Through the sensitization activities, I have also learned of the necessity of being a role model in my community, especially of not being a perpetrator of SGBV myself: to always say no to this bad practice.

On behalf of all those who attended the training, I would like to thank COOPI for the wonderful work it is doing in Oyam District because sexual and gender based violence is still a big problem in our community.”