The Motivation for Conflict-Related Sexual Violence as a Weapon of War in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo

Abstract

Conflict-related sexual violence serves as a weapon of war because of the impunity of perpetrators as well as the silenced situation of its victims and their protectors. Moreover, it causes the long-term destruction of the community and the successful generation, disempowerment of the victims and their families, and the empowered masculinity of the offenders. This occurs through conquerors’ seizing “desirable” land and resources by forcibly displacing and weakening the “undesirable” population en masse.

Such sexual violence related to the political economy and forced displacement has been occurring in the “desirable” mineral-rich eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where neighboring Rwanda had economic and demographic motivations for its use of that weapon. Previous literature primarily interviewed the Congolese national army officers in the Congolese territory and argued that “failed masculinity” and the sexual lust of Congolese national army soldiers drive sexual violence. Contrarily, this study argues that Rwanda has been using sexual violence as a weapon of war since 1996 when Rwanda invaded the eastern Congo. Such use of conflict-related sexual violence has been enabled by Rwanda’s infiltration and control of armed groups, including the Congolese national army; Rwanda also controlled mines and residents in the eastern Congo. This infiltration enabled the Rwandan government to reinforce masculinity, in particular hegemonic and militarized masculinities, among the armed groups. This has resulted in weakening local civilian masculinity and morale and silencing the Congolese national army and civilian population, especially men, for being incapable of protecting women. To gain access to land and resources, Rwanda employed this weapon to expel the “undesirable” Congolese people. This is the first study to examine the unexplored role of Rwanda by interviewing former army officers and soldiers in exile, in fueling sexual violence as a tactic.