Thursday, November 14, 2013

Blog 10: Sexual and Gender-based Violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: Opportunities for Progress as M23 Disarms?


            They say that education is key.  Education is the key to knowledge, growth and understanding; but what happens when there is an inequality among education?   Can education help reduce the crime and rape among women in the Democratic Republic of the Congo?
Mr. Mukwege, stressed that these “violent roots of wartime rape lie in the gender inequalities” and “education is need to eradicate these inequalities.”  There has been years of war in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, or DRC.  These years of war have brought many tragedies, big and small, yet the greatest of these tragedies is rape among women.  Democratic Republic on Congo has been labeled and named the “rape capital of the world.”  Rape has gotten so extreme that an estimated forty-eight women were raped and killed every hour, whether it be from militiamen or the Congolese soldiers.  This rampant sexual and gender based violence has created a displacement crisis, with nearly 2.7 million Congolese being displaced within their country , and one million uprooted just last year alone.  Dr. Denis Mukwege is a renowned Congolese physician and human right advocate, and he fights for the 30,000 women he has performed surgery on due to rape.  Dr. Mukwege argues that this type of violence cannot be fixed without addressing the huge gender inequalities and educating all the citizens of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  Dr. Mukwege stated that they have “probably one of the best laws in the world that was written in 2006 to protect women. But how many women know about this law?  How many men know about this law?  Actually, it’s no only a question of them know it, but the application.” 
Education is key here.  Education has always been key but it is all about application as Dr. Mukwege stated.  Everyone should be given the right to an education so that they can apply their knowledge and understanding to benefit themselves and those around them.  Inequalities, whether it be gender, sex, economic or education, cannot be fixed if there aren’t those using what they know and applying it.  There should not be one more woman raped or killed due to inequality. 



Hannah Bay Snider
11/14/13
9:25 am


http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/africa-in-focus/posts/2013/11/12-sexual-gender-based-violence-congo-bradley

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