Platform for Rape Victims in Great Lakes Region

By Alexander Chaves Reprint | | Print |

UNITED NATIONS, Jun 4 2013 (IPS) - The increasing importance for women to have a voice in times of conflict has been the focus in the latest discourse of peace building throughout the globe.

The participants in a panel discussion Tuesday on “Women and Peacebuilding in the Great Lakes Region of Africa” included the UN Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region Mary Robinson, the UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict Zainab Hawa Bangura, Ireland’s Minister of State for Trade and Development, Joe Costello, T.D., Ugandan Women’s Civil Society Leader, Lina Zedriga Waru Abuku and Ireland’s Permanent Representative  to the UN  Anne Anderson.

The key purpose of the discussion was to include women’s rights in the peace-building process for the Great Lakes region of Africa, as they are viewed as objects in times of war. Zainab Hawa Bangura insists that rape is just as much a weapon of war as any bullet or bomb.

Bangura described how rape, as an instrument of war, leaves a devastating effect on its victims. She visited a town in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where infants as young as six months old had been raped.

The central points of the panel discussion were that women shall not be marginalized by governmental institutions; financial resources are needed to help provide aid to victims of rape in war; and that women deserve a place at the table in regards to peace building.

Asked about psychological aid for rape victims, Robinson told IPS: I know quite a few of them who are working with women who have been appallingly raped and re-raped very often and to become survivors in a real sense to learn to have a voice and to learn that they have nothing to be ashamed of. It’s the perpetrators who should be ashamed, but I hope that through this women’s platform we could get support…”.

“…In terms of rape being used as a weapon of choice, especially in the DRC, the aim is to stop this impunity. The first step is to empower these victims to speak out against it, and, secondly, to enable survivors to have space where they can be heard and can document their experiences…” Lina Zedriga told IPS.

The moral issue of violent conflicts is the neglect of women as victims of rape. The Great Lakes region of Africa is one of the most dangerous regions in the world for women. The objective of this meeting was to promote a platform of organizations to help ensure that these governments hold militia men and law enforcement accountable for their crimes in times of war.