In the Interview, the Cordinator of the Women Media Association of South Kivu spoke about the
conflict in Congo, which one has claimed over five million lives and been marked by brutal
sexual violence against women. This is sometimes incorrectly assumed to be
rooted in the culture of the region. Sadly, sexual violence is a tactic of
terror in conflicts around the world.
When she started to talk on the radio about the problem of rape in DRC, Chouchou Namegabe Dubuisson said that People were shocked. They said, "How can you talk about sex openly on the radio?" It's a taboo. It wasn't easy.
They started to sensitize people and say, "It's not a problem of sex,
it's a big problem of the community." They didn't even have a word to talk
about rape, so they had to borrow a word from Kiswahili from Tanzania,
and they started talking about ubakaji. It was a new word for
eastern Congolese people. So it was the media that sensitized people and
told them that there's a problem now that is affecting women and they
have to act.
Survivors were rejected first by their families. This happens even
though, when the militias attack the villages, they rape women in front
of their husbands and children, in public. It's a planned strategy, a
way of terrorizing the community.
About awareness rape changing, The Cordinator of Women Media Association of South Kivu says that they have done a lot of
sensitization of communities and have also worked with many NGOs to
empower women. There has been a change. Some survivors have been
reintegrated with their families.
She give an example of a young girl. She was 13 when she was
raped, and she had a baby. She had been taken into the forest with her
mother, but they managed to escape. Chouchou met her after she heard the
testimony of another woman and came to them. There are many women who were
hiding what had happened to them, and after hearing the testimonies on
the radio, they have come to them. They say that telling them their story is
the first step to healing their internal wounds.
I rented a house for that girl, because every time people discovered
her story, she had to move. I had to tell her, "No, don't leave your
place. It's your story, don't hide it." She found a fiancé, but he left
her when he found out her story. But when she got a second fiancé, I
told her she had to tell him her story. He accepted her, and they
married and had a child together; telling Chouchou Namegabe.
This is another part of the interview Chouchou Gives to Sokka Gakkai International SGI
SGIQ: Do you feel afraid doing your work?
Chouchou ND: We've been threatened many times.
They told me, "We'll take you, and you won't even have a second to call
for help." And other members of our organization have been threatened
that they will be killed. The threats are anonymous.
SGIQ: Have you ever considered stopping?
Chouchou ND: Sometimes I think about that but, no, I have to do my job.
But sometimes when I have to talk about the stories and the
atrocities that are happening I do feel I want to stop, because I don't
see change. But I get courage from the women with whom I work and the
survivors. When you see them smile--you can't believe that they would be
able to smile after what has happened to some of them. So, I have to
continue.
SGIQ: It must take courage even to listen to their stories.
Chouchou: It is difficult. I am pregnant now. Recently in one attack where the militias killed people and raped women, they found a woman who was seven months pregnant, and they cut the baby out of her belly. When I heard that, I was traumatized. And when you listen to the many atrocities that the women face. . . unimaginable things. I used to think that rape was done for sexual needs, but no. It's a strategy to destroy.
SGIQ: Do you manage to feel hopeful amidst all of this?
CND: Sometimes I feel like I've lost hope. But I can't lose hope, because I am working. It's not only me, many people are involved in the fight. One day things will change. And when I do advocacy, I propose solutions.
The first thing is peace and security. And the other problem is the illegal exploitation of mineral resources. It's a cycle.
The international community doesn't like to talk about it although it's a big problem, and they know that they have a responsibility for the presence of the FDLR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, a rebel group) in the eastern part of Congo, who are committing the atrocities on women. Powerful countries should pressure Rwanda to accept their return. Then I think the eastern part of Congo could live in peace.
We are working to empower women. And we think that solutions will come from women, when they have power. That's my hope. And to talk about the problem is to act. When you make the problem known, it will bring solutions, somehow, though we don't know how.
This happens even though, when the militias attack the villages,
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