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Congo Teach In: Educate and Activate

Congo Teach In: Educate and Activate. An educational tool brought to you by:. The Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly known as Zaire). Roots of the conflict: Colonization. 1880s: Belgium’s King Leopold II takes personal control of the Congo territory

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Congo Teach In: Educate and Activate

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  1. Congo Teach In:Educate and Activate An educational tool brought to you by:

  2. The Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly known as Zaire)

  3. Roots of the conflict:Colonization • 1880s: Belgium’s King Leopold II takes personal control of the Congo territory • 8-10 million people die as a result of violence, forced labor, and starvation • 1908: Leopold transfers control of the “Congo Free State” to the Belgian government

  4. Roots of the conflict:Decolonization & the Cold War • 1960: Independence • 1961: Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba assassinated • Congo as a U.S. ally • Strategic minerals • A central location for projecting military power

  5. Roots of the conflict:Mobutu Sese Seko • 1965: Becomes President through military coup • Establishes Africa’s greatest “kleptocracy”

  6. Ripples of genocide • 1994: Mobutu shelters genocidal leaders exiled from neighboring Rwanda • 1997: Rebellion sponsored by Rwanda & Uganda ousts Mobutu

  7. War in the DRC, 1998-present • Africa’s “First World War” – the deadliest in the world since World War II • 45,000 deaths per month (2008, Int’l Rescue Committee) • Estimated 5.4 million deaths (IRC)

  8. An increasingly localized battle for control of natural resources • Sexual violence used by all sides to displace, control, and traumatize • The UN’s largest peacekeeping operation (2000-present) • Thousands continue to die

  9. The “Resource Curse” • Natural resources finance armed groups committing sexual violence in eastern Congo  • Diamonds, tin, and25% of world’s tantalum minerals • columbite-tantalite • Consumers in the United States unknowingly contribute to the conflict by purchasing these products • The Congo’s vast resources have never benefited its people (coltan)

  10. The suffering continues Despite 2003 ceasefire… • Systematic and widespread crimes against humanity continue • 1,500 Congolese die daily from hunger, preventable disease, and other consequences of violence and displacement • Half of deaths are children • 1.3 million displaced

  11. Humanitarian crisis • More than 200,000 women and girls raped since the beginning of the conflict • More than 33,000 children taken by armed groups • child soldiers • sex slaves • Sexual violence continues at horrific rates

  12. Violence against women in the DRC • Eastern Congo is the most dangerous place in the world for women and girls • Rape on a scale seen nowhere else in the world • Sexual violence to subjugate and humiliate populations they seek to control • Unparalleled physical as well as emotional trauma

  13. “Nothing I ever experienced felt as ghastly, terrifying and complete as the sexual torture and attempted destruction of the female species here. The violence is a threat to all; young girls and village elders alike are at risk. It is not too strong to call this a femicide, to say that the future of the Congo’s women is in serious jeopardy,” –Eve Ensler, founder and artistic director of V-Day (www.vday.org)

  14. Violence against women:the numbers • Approximately 3,500 reported incidents of rape in North and South Kivu in the first six months of 2008 • 50% of survivors were under the age of 18 • Doctors Without Borders says 75 percentof all rape cases it deals with worldwide are in eastern Congo

  15. Violence against women:root causes • The weak state • A culture of impunity • Gender inequality • Economic interests & natural resource exploitation

  16. Many women wait weeks for surgery to repair injuries from rape and torture. Women waiting for fistulae and vaginal reconstruction surgery at Panzi Hospital, Bukavu. Photo: Paula Allen/V-Day

  17. Women who develop fistulae are often left incontinent. Urine left behind by survivors at a meeting.Photo: Paula Allen/V-Day

  18. JANET When I hear a boom, I am terrified. The pain I felt when they took my leg over my head as they raped me. The leg was loose and they were pulling it. I was screaming, the pain was so great. I had 2 surgeries—nothing they could do. Head of the thigh bone was gone. I will be on crutches for the rest of my life. I've always been courageous. Always will be courageous. If the military want to kill me for telling my story, I am ready to die. September 12th, 2008, Goma, DRC

  19. LUMO They shoved grass in my mouth and tied me with my clothes. After, I couldn't walk. They used my clothes and dragged me on the ground. The next day a hunter found me. I was hospitalized for three years. I have fistula from the rapes. I still after 9 operations have fistula. I was going to be married. My husband left me after the rapes. He got his dowry back. My friend ended up dying. September 12th, 2008, Goma, DRC

  20. The latest cycle of violence • Since August 2008, fighting has intensified between the Congolese army and rebels loyal to a renegade general named Laurent Nkunda (arrested Jan. 2009) • 250,000 people displaced by recent fighting • Sexual violence against women and girls and forced recruitment of men and boys remain daily threats IDP camp in Kibati, November 2008

  21. What should we be demanding from the international community? • Peacemaking • Protection • Punishment • Prevention

  22. A call to the world from the women in the DRC In September 2008, in Bukavu and Goma, 12 women survivors of sexual violence publicly testified about their experiences and together with other activists across the region issued a Call to the World. They called for: • “The international community must act on behalf of Congolese women and girls whether or not it serves their economic or political self-interest.” • An end to the stigmatization of women survivors of sexual violence • A commitment by the Government on all levels, local, provincial, national and international to protect women and girls • A deeper commitment from the United Nations to keep women and girls safe • An end to impunity and strengthening of the judicial system • Urgent and necessary medical and psychological support for survivors • The solidarity of men • “We make up more than 52% of the population but there are fewer than 10% women in positions of authority, in violation of our own constitution. Support women in taking leadership positions and power in the DRC”

  23. Lead Your Leaders • Sign the RAISE Hope for Congo petition to the President of the United States, urging him to take immediate action to end the suffering of women and girls in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. • Call your Senators and Representatives and urge them to pass the International Violence Against Women Act (IVAWA). • Call 1-202-224-3121 from 9:00am- 6:00pm EST, Mon- Fri • Write to the President of the DRC, Joseph Kabila to urge him to put an end to the rapes by holding perpetrators accountable.

  24. Join the Movement • Sign up for the Enough Project’s RAISE Hope for Congo campaign to protect and empower Congolese women and girls • Learn how you can work with other students to end the conflict in Congo through STAND, the student-led division of the Genocide Intervention Network • JoinV-Day and UNICEF (in partnership with UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict) in “Stop Raping our Greatest Resource: Power to Women of the Democratic Republic of Congo.” You can also sign up to participate in V-Day’s Spotlight Campaign on the women and girls of the DRC and help raise funds to build the City of Joy in Bukavu, South Kivu, DRC. • Share this presentation with your friends and communities.

  25. Learn More Books: • King Leopold’s Ghostby Adam Hochschild • All Things Must Fight to Live: Stories of War and Deliverance in Congo by Bryan Mealer • In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtzby Michela Wrong Documentaries: • White King, Red Rubber, Black Death on colonial-era brutality • Lumo on one woman’s struggles and triumphs in Congo Other: • The ENOUGH Project: Strategy Papers on eastern Congo. • Rape of a Nation by Marcus Bleasdale. • Women left for dead—and the man who’s saving them by Eve Ensler in Glamour Magazine. • Covering the War in Eastern Congo: A special report on Dateline.

  26. YOU ARE PART OF THE SOLUTION Join us!

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