Using Genocidal Rape as a Weapon of War

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Introduction

Sexual abuse of women has become a trend in most civil wars. Rape is one of the most dangerous weapons today being used in civil wars against women. Some of the countries that have used genocidal rape as a weapon of war are Sierra Leone, Liberia and former Yugoslavia. The emotional hurt from sexual abuse leaves a deeper scar, strips away the dignity and identity of women. Genocidal rape was first recognized as weapon of war in 1992 in the former Yugoslavia and later in Rwanda because of the alarming number of women who were raped. During the three months of genocide in 1994 in Rwanda, 100,000 and 250,000 were sexually violated . Oftentimes women are traumatized from the experience. Rape as a weapon of war was and still is being used in both Congo and Rwanda genocides. Although the Congo and Rwanda genocides occurred at different times, the damages and pain inflicted on women through sexual abuse are the same. Rwanda genocide only lasted a short few months, but Congo genocide on the other hand lasted for over a decade and still is going on. Unfortunately Congo women are still experiencing the brutality and harshness of genocidal rape. In this paper I will examine:
• How women are affected by rape during wartimes by looking at the similarities and differences of genocidal rape in Rwanda and Congo?
• What is being done to empower women to fight against sexual violence?
In the case of genocidal rape, women are not the only ones affected because communities also go under major changes and shifts because children who are born from these rapes and fathered by men from other tribes taints a women’s tribe, destroys families and communities. Unfortunately children produced out of rape are never fully accepted into their mo...

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...n these innocent children are a disgrace either tribes. Besides rape and mutilation, sexually transmitted diseases have proven to be an entirely different battle that victims of genocidal rape have to fight as an aftermath of civil war. HIV/AIDS has left thousands of children in Rwanda and Congo motherless. Some children have also contracted the virus from their parents, which has left the future of these children bleak. International organizations and human rights groups have brought reassurance to Hutu and Tusti women as they walk their journey of recovery from the traumatic experiences that they have been through. Women are given the opportunity to be educated and skills to survive economically. Advocating women’s rights and equality in African communities by international organizations and human rights is helping these women reach goals they never knew existed.

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