African Woman and Child Feature Service

The high illiteracy rate among African women plays a major role in hindering their quest for justice in crimes that violate their rights as they remain targets of sexual violence particularly in times of conflict.

States like the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Sudan, Liberia, Sierra Leone and the Central African Republic have had their fair share of gender injustices.

In 2002, rape and sexual violence became an instrument of war to decimate entire communities. Women were tortured, killed and in some instances buried alive. The war resulted in sexual exploitation by armed groups manning specific territories of the country. Many young girls ended up being sexual slaves.

Vulnerability

Rwandan rebels were reported to have killed expectant women and extracted foetuses from their wombs. In some districts in the western provinces, armed men took advantage of vulnerable women. Their lips, ears and genitals remain scared from mutilation.

According to Ms Stella Yanda of Initiatives Alpha in the Democratic Republic of Congo, since 1996, the country has registered a number of wars ranging from civil wars, aggression and war.

The types of violence experienced takes two forms. There is the traditional violence where women are subjugated through culture. In this instance the woman’s body becomes the battlefield.

“Because of war, the woman’s body is exposed to brutal violence. She is considered game, a play thing,” observes Yanda.

Women continue to carry the cross of social ignominy as a result of impunity. The perpetrators involved in these heinous acts have gone unpunished due to impunity. The authors of these atrocities include the Hutu rebels, soldiers of the armed forces in DRC, internal armed groups, mayi mayi armed group, prison warders and even civilians. These militant groups turned against women.

Violence

Yanda observes that there have been a number of changes that have led to reduction of sexual violence against women. Emphasis by the United Nations secretary general, the International Criminal Court prosecutor and the enactment of a law against sexual violence have played a big role in reduction of cases.

Some of the authors of the atrocities have been prosecuted. “There has been a lot of progress also in prosecutions. The trial of Martin Bakaka, Thomas Lubanga, police agents in Congo’s eastern province amongst others on various violations of human rights have made a mark to justice being served,” she reiterates, adding that it is a step but not enough.

Some perpetrators remain untouchable and go unpunished. That gap still needs to be bridged if justice is to prevail.

In 2004, the government of Congo requested the ICC to carry out investigations but the Judiciary was reluctant to comply. The investigations did not bear much fruit because some of the perpetrators are government officials. Arresting them would either paralyse or put the country’s peace in jeopardy. The country has no law regarding implementation of the Rome statute.

As far as civil society organisations are concerned, there is an urgent need to facilitate the work of investigators. Documentation of sexual crimes needs to be carried out.

“I am urging the government to get rid of the shadows in their midst for justice to take its course,” urges Yanda.

The situation in Sudan is no different. The ICC process is crucial in prosecuting perpetrators in Sudan. The Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice (WIGJ) has been supporting women affected by the Darfur conflict since 2005.

“Regarding the peace talks still taking place in Doha, WIGJ is keenly following the talks and engaging with partners in Darfur to ensure the effective participation of women and access to information on what is going on with regard to peace negotiations,” said Ms Amira Khair, WIGJ Sudan Programme officer.

Legal provisions

The justice system in Sudan is not friendly neither is it designed to cater for their rights. The Sudanese criminal law does not contain legal provisions that criminalise offenses that fall under the jurisdiction of the ICC which include crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide.

Khair further expressed disappointment on behalf of the affected communities in Darfur and in particular women and human rights and peace activists by President Omar Al Bashir’s visit to Kenya when Kenyans were celebrating the new Constitution as well as his visit to Chad despite that both countries are state parties to the Rome Statute.

The WIGJ is concerned with the situation of women in Darfur and is calling on the United Nations to protect them. Countries that have the Rome Statute in place are being asked to take the necessary measures in protecting women against sexual violence.

Coordinator of the Youth United for Environmental Protection and Community Development (JUPEDEC) from the Central African Republic, Mr Alexis Mbolinani, avers that soldiers used condoms to take advantage of the women. The women would be given a dollar to have sex without using condoms, thus the very high HIV prevalence rate. In this instance, the soldiers took advantage of the women’s poverty to perpetuate violence against them.

Currently, the international community is carrying out advocacy work to highlight the plight of women who have suffered violent attacks. Since 2008 when the Ugandan rebels took over, the violence prevalence rate stands at 13.7 percent.

During political related violence, communication, transport and a lot of abuse takes place especially in the remote areas. Literacy levels among girls and women are quite low. There are more than 5,000 refugees who ran away as a result of the war.

“While fighting the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), its effects and other forces, women and children are the most affected,” reiterates Mbolinani, adding that those who were raped and managed to come back home are chased away by their community.

Internally displaced persons are being assisted but the women have been left out. Mbolinani says strategies need to be put in place to help women reintegrate into the community without their being stigmatised.

“With the help of UNICEF, they are getting help in training, building schools and resettling. However, transporting the people even with security is a major challenge because they are sometimes shot at by the rebels,” explains Mbolinani.

In Liberia, when the war began in 1989, thousands of women and children were displaced. Majority of the population fled to neighbouring Sierra Leone, Cote d’Ivoire and Guinea to seek refuge.

Women and girls were subjected to rape by the soldiers and ethnic militia. Towards the end of the second civil war in 2003, there was an upsurge in sexual violence as the war intensified. As the fighting between the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) and the troops of President Charles Taylor intensified, so did the cases of sexual violence.

Combating SGBV

To deal with the sexual violence in Liberia, a Joint Programme was signed between the Government of Liberia and the United Nations. The programme is helping address the wide-scale sexual exploitation and abuse cases, sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) through the implementation of both prevention and response measures.

A fact sheet on combating sexual and gender based violence in Liberia states that the Joint Programme has been designed in line with the security and protection component of the Government’s Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS). It offers a comprehensive and integrated approach to reducing sexual gender based violence and is designed to support Liberia’s National GBV Plan of Action (POA), minimising GBV by while providing appropriate care and services to survivors.

Over two million people in Sierra Leone were displaced by the armed conflict that lasted 11 years and are now refugees in neighbouring countries. Women are stigmatized and are not allowed to speak in their own communities therefore making it difficult to deal with sexual gender based violence. Due to these heinous acts, the country continues to experience high prevalence rates of HIV/AIDS. Women still continue to suffer some form of violence during their lifetime. As of last year, out of the more than 900 cases reported, no convictions have been made.

Justice

The access to justice programme by the UNDP strives to give special attention to SGBV and also, seeks to support the work of government institutions (FSU, the Courts, the Local Courts, and the State Counsel) as well as civil society in the prevention and prosecution of SGBV cases.

It’s part of UNDP’s response in strengthening a weak and poorly resourced justice system and improve access to justice for vulnerable people in Sierra Leone.

These few scenarios paint the hopeless picture of the justice system in African countries in addressing sexual gender based violence. As women continue to bear the brunt of violence, justice remains elusive even with the enactment of gender based laws, signing of treaties and peace accords.

This article was originally published in the Kenyan Woman Issue 17 , read other stories on-line