It is one of two internationally renowned centres helping women, the other being the Panzi Hospital, based in South Kivu. Marie-Claire Faray Kele is a Congolese


“Te leaders need to ask, What is happening to our women and girls? What’s the future for them?”


women’s rights activist who believes sexual violence is used as a tool of humiliation and subjugation, paralysing the community to submit themselves to those who wield power. At the heart of DRC’s war is the na- tion’s minerals, which 50 years ago made it one of the richest countries in Africa but are today the source of pain for the women who make up the fabric of its society. Tat being the case, the UN recently appointed Margot Wallstrom, a special envoy tasked with intensifying efforts to end sexual violence against women and children in conflict regions of Africa. She says, “Rape is not cultural but criminal.” But will she be able to bring the perpetrators who have gone unpunished to justice? According to UNICEF, there are more


than 1,000 rape cases each month and UN reports claim that over 8,000 women were raped during fighting in 2009. For the mili- tias and government troops who carry out these crimes, it seems rape has become a casual recreational act with which they make their point. Tey discriminate against no one based on age, gender or tribe. Such is the savagery of the attacks, as demonstrated by the July 2010 gang-rape of an estimated 300 women, young girls and baby boys by rebel soldiers over a four-day period in Luvungi town, Eastern DRC, that the country was dubbed “the rape capital of the world” by a senior UN official. Te North and South Kivu regions of Eastern DRC have the highest rape counts in the world – with over 25 women being raped each day and the Congo is now described as the “most dangerous place in the world to be a woman”. In November 2010, it was reported by the BBC Newsnight programme that a recent study showed that 39% of women and 24% of men had been raped. However, male victims, for fear of stigmatisation and shame, hardly come forward. Hence there are numerous undocumented cases. While bringing an end to the epi-


demic of sexual violence is crucial, victims also need to be rehabilitated, and that is the premise on which Heal Africa works. Founded in 1994 by Dr. Kasereka and Lyn Lusi, its primary aim is to medically inter- vene and help people through its holistic approach to health-care and various programmes that it


WINTER 2011 | NEW AFRICAN WOMAN | 27


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