This CAI paper is the second of a two-part series exploring sexual violence committed against men in Africa. (Read Part I here)⁽²⁾ Whilst the previous paper gave a broad overview of male sexual violence (MSV) across the continent, this paper focuses on rape as a weapon of war, specifically in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This paper focuses on narratives and qualitative perspectives on MSV, using statistical, quantitative research to ameliorate our understanding of this particular location of MSV.

In 2008, the United Nations (UN) officially declared rape a weapon of war,⁽³⁾ presumably because of the extraordinarily high rate of rape that has been reported in the DRC since the Second Congo War began in 1998. The DRC, especially the eastern provinces of North and South Kivu, has the most prevalent and intense occurrence of rape in the world.⁽⁴⁾ A 2010 survey found that 23.6% of the men in these eastern provinces reported having been the victims of sexual violence.⁽⁵⁾ This sexual violence, much to the incredulity of both local communities and the world at large, includes the rape of boys and men. The social consequences of this incredulity, combined with several myths around male rape, result in both neglect and even the continued persecution of male victims of rape. Uganda is inextricably bound to the problem of male rape in the DRC, since it hosts countless Congolese refugees. Unfortunately, it is also plagued by MSV as a war crime through the activities of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), and Uganda’s legal attitude towards same-sex sexual activities render reporting male rape problematic and risky for the victims.

Definitions of sexual violence in theory

Most sexual violence perpetrated in eastern DRC is conflict related.⁽⁶⁾ The crucial difference between sexual violence as a crime of war and other types of sexual violence is the recognition by the perpetrator that the actions in question are part of, or are intended to be, a systematic or widespread tactic against the civilian population in the area.⁽⁷⁾ Research shows that rape is the most prevalent form of sexual violence against both men and women in the DRC.⁽⁸⁾ The International Criminal Court (ICC) defines rape as the invasion of…

…the body of a person by conduct resulting in penetration, however slight, of any part of the body of the victim or of the perpetrator with a sexual organ, or of the anal or genital opening of the victim with any object or any other part of the body.’⁽⁹⁾

This definition is intentionally gender-neutral ⁽¹⁰⁾ because rape as a weapon of war is recognised as affecting both men and women.

Taking into account the prevalence of rape, it must nonetheless be acknowledged that sexual violence includes a range of activities perpetrated against the individual. These activities include (but are not limited to) non-consensual sexual penetration (of the genitals or anus), forced masturbation or fellatio, castration or deliberate injury to genitalia, forced nudity and forced sexual acts between victims.⁽¹¹⁾ Sexual violence can be a single incident or consist of prolonged sexual slavery, servitude or torture.⁽¹²⁾

As will become evident later on in this essay, MSV in the DRC encompasses most of these abuses. The denigration of the victim’s gender is typical of sexual violence.⁽¹³⁾ The majority of perpetrators of MSV are male themselves ⁽¹⁴⁾ and they use MSV to feminise their victims or to attack their masculinity.⁽¹⁵⁾ Sexual violence is thus almost always related to gender-based violence, which targets the psychological aspect of the victim’s sexual make-up.

The ICC defines the use of sexual violence as part of military operations against civilians as a war crime.⁽¹⁶⁾ Governments and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are enjoined by the ICC to combat sexual violence in all situations, including MSV and especially in conflict situations.

Definitions of sexual violence in practice

Despite the theoretical gender neutrality of the definition of sexual violence, Lara Stemple argues that sexual and gender violence is usually practically defined in terms of women being the passive victims and men being either active perpetrators or agents of change.⁽¹⁷⁾ She notes that only 3% of the 4,076 NGOs dealing with sexual violence as a war crime mention men and boys as potential victims of sexual violence ⁽¹⁸⁾ and usually only as a passing reference. Most NGOs and aid organisations are mandated to focus on sexual violence against women and children;⁽¹⁹⁾ some even stipulate that they will only fund organisations that treat mostly women. For instance, Dutch Oxfam stated that it would only provide funding for Makarere University’s Refugee Law Project (RLP) if 70% or more of the people it helped were women.⁽²⁰⁾ (The RLP provides treatment for many refugees from the DRC who have been the victims of sexual violence, slavery and torture.) Similarly, the United Nations (UN), when making its call on nations to prevent sexual violence, ‘[c]alls onall parties to armed conflict to take special measures to protect women and girls from gender-based violence, particularly rape and other forms of sexual abuse’⁽²¹⁾ (emphasis added).

The result of this continued misapplication of the laws, Stemple tells us, is perpetuation of the myth that only (and possibly all) men rape, while only women are victims.⁽²²⁾ Not only is this detrimental to male victims of MSV but it also continues an understanding of gender which essentially robs women of their agency. Furthermore, as the stories below illustrate, the bias towards seeing only women as victims of sexual violence unjustly denies many victims of sexual violence the chance for partial recovery.

Brief facts about sexual violence in the DRC

As mentioned, approximately 23.6% of all men in North and South Kivu in the DRC have been victims of MSV. Around 39% of the female population in this area have also been victims of sexual violence.⁽²³⁾ This shows that sexual violence still predominantly affects women, however, male victims make up a significant proportion of the victims of combat-related sexual violence in the DRC.

Research shows that survivors of MSV are far more prone to depression than their female counterparts.⁽²⁴⁾ About 14% of men in North and South Kivu suffer from depression relating to their ordeals while around 1% of the women in these regions do.⁽²⁵⁾ For both men and women, suicidal thoughts and tendencies double after experiencing sexual violence.⁽²⁶⁾ Both men and women are devastatingly stigmatised for being victims of sexual violence. For women, this is an incredibly difficult issue to deal with, yet it seems nearly impossible for men to survive.

A recent survey has managed to demonstrate that women, especially those actively involved in the DRC conflict, play a significant role in the perpetration of sexual violence.⁽²⁷⁾ Female perpetrators are responsible for 41.1% of sexual violence against women and 10% of MSV.⁽²⁸⁾ Most perpetrators of sexual violence, regardless of their sex, are combatants.⁽²⁹⁾ Some even report that the UN peacekeeper troops present in the area and the DRC army are responsible for a number of sexual violence cases.^{(30, 31)} It is clear that conventional assumptions about the perpetration and victimhood of sexual violence do not apply wholesale to conflict situations such as the DRC. These assumptions, however, continue to dominate the lives of those affected by sexual violence.

Colouring between the lines: Narratives of pain

Two narrative accounts provided below further illustrate how MSV is affecting the lives of Congolese people. Both of these accounts originate from an article in the Observer by Will Storr, who was doing a story on Congolese refugees at the RLP.⁽³²⁾ The first is told by Eunice Owiny, who was working as a counsellor at the RLP, providing services for refugees escaping traumatic situations. One of her clients was having trouble with her husband: he could not have sex with her. Both husband and wife had escaped the eastern DRC, but had gotten separated for some time during their escape. Since they reunited in Uganda, he had been unable to have sex. Owiny could only get information from the husband once the wife had left the room. Graphically, he told his story by placing a used, pus-covered sanitary pad on her desk. He was captured on his escape from the DRC when he and his wife were separated. The militia who had captured him raped him three times a day for three years. Others with him during that time died of their wounds. Despite the length and intensity of this ordeal, this man never told his wife what had happened to him.

Unfortunately, this man and many others have good reason to keep quiet. Male rape survivors in the DRC and surrounding countries are perceived as being robbed of their masculinity. Wives frequently leave their husbands after hearing that they have been raped and rape survivors often become pariahs in their communities.^{(33, 34, 35, 36)} A common misperception is that ‘real men’ can fend off such attacks, and men who fail to do so are marked as somehow lacking in their supposed protective capabilities.⁽³⁷⁾ Stemple shows that men receive less sympathy than women in general,⁽³⁸⁾ a fact which often allows society to reject, rather than support, male survivors of sexual violence. Furthermore, male rape and MSV survivors are incorrectly stigmatised as homosexual.⁽³⁹⁾ In countries where homosexuality is illegal, male rape survivors face the possibility of being prosecuted for participating in ‘homosexual acts’.⁽⁴⁰⁾ This possibility is increased by the incredulity of police officers who refuse to acknowledge that men can also be raped. In Uganda, where many DRC refugees seek asylum, homosexuality is a heavily stigmatised issue and suspicion thereof can result in being ostracised from one’s community and prosecuted by the law. Sadly, it is just too risky for male survivors of sexual violence to report their crimes, even to their close relatives.

Storr further tells how MSV manifests as a systematic attack on the victim’s masculinity. Jean-Paul was also captured by rebel forces while escaping the DRC. Upon finding out about his ordeal, his wife left him, feeling that he was no longer masculine. He tells how he was held for nine days, raped by eleven men each night and made to do chores typically reserved for women. This is an example of the denigration of Jean-Paul’s gender identity as a form of gender-based violence. He bled profusely during the gang rape. He was fed very little and allowed to wear only his underwear. Both the forced nudity and the compulsory, non-consensual sex acts are typical of MSV. He only escaped by hiding in undergrowth on the ninth day, when he was meant to be collecting wood.

Since his ordeal, Jean-Paul has not been able to recover physically. He continues to bleed whenever he walks or even if he sits in the wrong position. His diet should be restricted to soft foods such as bananas if he is to heal. Unfortunately, because of his condition and his wife leaving him, he is unable to earn enough to buy anything but millet and maize, which continually reopen his wounds when they pass. Cases such as Jean-Paul’s are not unique, but are instead typical. Survivors of MSV often require financial aid in order to heal. The RLP reports through Storr’s article, that eight out of ten people approaching them for aid are survivors of sexual violence and that all of the men who approach them are victims of MSV.⁽⁴¹⁾

Final remarks

Despite formal recognition of MSV by the ICC, the myth continues that sexual violence affects only women. Gender-based violence has been shown to affect both men and women, and in the DRC the effects of this are blatantly evident. In places like the DRC, the world is witnessing a humanitarian disaster. Although sexual violence is devastating at best, the situation for male survivors of sexual violence is near impossible to overcome. The incredulity in the countries where they seek refuge, in the communities and families they find themselves and of the organisations that claim to provide relief, closes off all practical avenues for recovery for these men. Naturally, much depends on resolving the conflict in the DRC. However, treatment of survivors of MSV should not be a secondary priority and part of the solution to this problem is urgent policy changes by governments and the NGOs dealing with these issues.

NOTES:

(1) Contact Aidan Prinsloo through Consultancy Africa Intelligence’s Gender Issues Unit (gender.issues@consultancyafrica.com).
(2) Catherine Akurut, ‘Male sexual violence Part I: The need to ‘speak out’’, Consultancy Africa Intelligence, 2 August 2011, http://www.consultancyafrica.com.
(3) Kristof, N.D. and WuDunn, S., 2009. Half the sky: Turning oppression into opportunity for women worldwide. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
(4) Stephanie McCrummen, ‘The prevalence of rape in E. Congo described as the worst in the world’, The Washington Post, 9 September 2007, http://www.washingtonpost.com.
(5) Johnson, K. et al., 2010. Association of sexual violence and human rights violations with physical and mental health in territories of the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Journal of the American Medical Association, 304(5), pp.553-562, http://jama.ama-assn.org.
(6) Ibid.
(7) ICC, ‘Elements of crimes’, International Criminal Court, ICC-ASP/1/3(part II-B), 9 September, 2002, http://www.icc-cpi.int.
(8) Johnson, K. et al., 2010. Association of sexual violence and human rights violations with physical and mental health in territories of the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Journal of the American Medical Association, 304(5), pp.553-562, http://jama.ama-assn.org.
(9) ICC, ‘Elements of Crimes’, International Criminal Court, ICC-ASP/1/3(part II-B), September 9, 2002. http://www.icc-cpi.int.
(10) Ibid.
(11) Johnson, K. et al., 2010. Association of sexual violence and human rights violations with physical and mental health in territories of the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Journal of the American Medical Association, 304(5), pp.553-562, http://jama.ama-assn.org.
(12) Ibid.
(13) Stemple, L., 2009. Male rape and human rights. Hastings College of Law Journal, 60(605), pp.605-647, http://uchastings.edu.
(14) Johnson, K. et al., 2010. Association of sexual violence and human rights violations with physical and mental health in territories of the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Journal of the American Medical Association, 304(5), pp.553-562, http://jama.ama-assn.org.
(15) Stemple, L., 2009. Male rape and human rights. Hastings College of Law Journal, 60(605), pp.605-647, http://uchastings.edu.
(16) ICC, ‘Elements of crimes’, International Criminal Court, ICC-ASP/1/3(part II-B), September 9, 2002. http://www.icc-cpi.int.
(17) Stemple, L., 2009. Male rape and human rights. Hastings College of Law Journal, 60(605), pp.605-647, http://uchastings.edu.
(18) Ibid. See also Will Storr, ‘The rape of men’, Guardian, The Observer, 17 July 2011, http://www.guardian.co.uk.
(19) Stemple, L., 2009. Male rape and human rights. Hastings College of Law Journal, 60(605), pp.605-647, http://uchastings.edu.
(20) Will Storr, ‘The rape of men’, Guardian, The Observer, 17 July 2011, http://www.guardian.co.uk.
(21) Security Council Resolution 1325, United Nations Document S/RES/1325 (31 October 2000) in Stemple, L., 2009. Male rape and human rights. Hastings College of Law Journal, 60(605), pp.605-647, http://uchastings.edu.
(22) Johnson, K. et al., 2010. Association of sexual violence and human rights violations with physical and mental health in territories of the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Journal of the American Medical Association, 304(5), pp.553-562, http://jama.ama-assn.org.
(23) Ibid.
(24) Ibid.
(25) Ibid.
(26) Ibid.
(27) Ibid.
(28) Ibid.
(29) Ibid.
(30) Ibid.
(31) ‘Nation of Vice’, Journeyman Pictures, 30 November 2010, http://www.youtube.com.
(32) Will Storr, ‘The rape of men’, Guardian, The Observer, 17 July 2011, http://www.guardian.co.uk.
(33) Ibid.
(34) Johnson, K. et al., 2010. Association of sexual violence and human rights violations with physical and mental health in territories of the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Journal of the American Medical Association, 304(5), pp.553-562, http://jama.ama-assn.org.
(35) Stemple, L., 2009. Male rape and human rights. Hastings College of Law Journal, 60(605), pp.605-647, http://uchastings.edu.
(36) ‘Nation of Vice’, Journeyman Pictures, 30 November 2010, http://www.youtube.com.
(37) Will Storr, ‘The rape of men’, Guardian, The Observer, 17 July 2011, http://www.guardian.co.uk.
(38) Stemple, L., 2009. Male rape and human rights. Hastings College of Law Journal, 60(605), pp.605-647, http://uchastings.edu.
(39) Ibid.
(40) Ibid.
(41) Will Storr, ‘The rape of men’, Guardian, The Observer, 17 July 2011, http://www.guardian.co.uk.

Written by Aidan Prinsloo ⁽¹⁾