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Research paper
Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Among Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: Post-Conflict Scenario
The ongoing humanitarian crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has triggered sexual and gender-based violence, including rape, sexual slavery, trafficking, intimate partner violence, and sexual exploitation. Gender inequalities and abuse of power experienced by women and young girls…
Research paper
Resources and resourcefulness: Roles, opportunities and risks for women working at artisanal mines in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Two dominant narratives have characterized the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC): (1) the horrific abuse of women through sexual violence and (2) the use of “conflict minerals” to fuel the fighting. These two advocacy narratives intersect…
Research paper
Resources and Rape: Congo’s (toxic) Discursive Complex
In the last decade, the rapes (of women) in, and the metaphoric raping (of natural resources) of, the Democratic Republic of Congo have received unprecedented attention from media, donors, and advocacy groups. Beginning in the early 2000s, these two narratives…
Research paper
‘A Real Woman Waits’ – Heteronormative Respectability, Neo-Liberal Betterment and Echoes of Coloniality in SGBV Programming in Eastern DR Congo
Drawing on archival and field research, this article critically examines the production and distribution of gender roles and expectations in SGBV programming, in particular in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). We find the underlying currents in some of these…
Research paper
What Women Want before Justice: Examining Justice Initiatives to Challenge Violence against Women in the DRC
While the realization of women’s rights has increased significantly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Congolese women’s struggle is often obscured by certain international actors actively pushing for social change in the region. Those who are politically active in…
Research paper
Violence, Well-Being and Level of Participation in Formal Education among Adolescent Girls in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo: The Role of Child Marriage
Child marriage is a well-recognized barrier to education, and exposes girls to an increased risk of violence along with other negative health and developmental outcomes. A quantitative survey was conducted with girls selected from 14 communities in South Kivu, Democratic…
Research paper
“A Woman’s Degree Must End in the Kitchen”: Expectations of Women in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo
This study draws on a qualitative approach to explore how adolescents perceive women’s and men’s roles in marriage and family life. A sample of 56 boys and girls aged 16–20 from two urban and two rural high schools in South…
Research paper
Behind the weapon of war: sexual violence in wartime as a reflection of social attitudes towards women in peacetime
This article looks at practices of sexual violence that were prevalent during the period before the conflict in 1996 in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and shows how they have contributed to war-related sexual violence. The findings are based…
Research paper
Love, Sex, and Exchange in the Context of Peacebuilding in the Democratic Republic of Congo
The narrow framing of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA) and the United Nations Zero-Tolerance Policy inadequately accounts for the range of sexual interactions in peacekeeping contexts and obscures the wider social contexts within which sexual decision making occurs. We draw…
Research paper
The Transitional Justice Gap: Exploring ‘Everyday’ Gendered Harms and Customary Justice in South Kivu, DR Congo
Feminist transitional justice (TJ) has greatly contributed to the study of justice in the ruins of war, notably around prosecuting wartime rape. At the same time, scholars have observed limitations to this research agenda such as externally-driven definitions gendered harms…
Research paper
Sexual and gender based violence against men in the Democratic Republic of Congo: effects on survivors, their families and the community
Media and service provider reports of sexual and gender based violence (SGBV) perpetrated against men in armed conflicts have increased. However, response to these reports has been limited, as existing evidence and programs have primarily focused on prevention and response…
Research paper
A man never cries: barriers to holistic care for male survivors of sexual violence in eastern DRC
While we know that most male survivors of conflict-related sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) do not have access to care, little attention has been devoted to a systematic analysis of why this is so. Drawing…
Book chapter
Borders, boundaries, and brokers: The unintended consequences of strategic essentialism in transnational feminist networks
Strategic essentialising around the figure of the Congolese woman has created a collective of more than 60 different women’s organisations coming from opposite corners of the DRC. There now exists an extensive grassroots community, which maintains visibility and close contact…
Thesis
Navigating Obstacles, Opportunities and Reforms: Women’s Lives and Livelihoods in Artisanal Mining Communities in Eastern DRC
This thesis drew upon ethnographic methods to ‘zoom in’ on the diverse and changing roles of women in artisanal mining. Over a 15-month period, the research was carried out at four mining sites: two in South Kivu (Kamituga and Nyabibwe)…
Thesis
Integrating Women into Peacebuilding in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. A Case Study of Goma
This thesis, set in the context of field research conducted in North Kivu province in DRC, explores the barriers to women’s participation in peacebuilding processes and their potential contributions. From the field, it is evident that women’s organisations and groups…
Thesis
A Gender Analysis of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Health System Reform: An Opportune Moment to Build a Just and Inclusive Health System
This thesis examines key institutional and structural interventions and reforms in the health system of the DRC for their implications on health experienced by Congolese women from conception to beyond their reproductive years. This thesis suggests that healthcare reform efforts…
Briefing
Women, Conflict and Public Authority in the Congo
Even though women in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are undoubtedly marginalized in formal political life, they are not completely absent from the political arena. Congolese women are involved in the exercise of local public authority in a…
Research paper
Gender relations and women’s reproductive health in South Sudan
Drawing on Connell’s relational theory of gender, the authors of this study conducted focus group discussion and interviews with Fertit women in South Sudan concerning their ability to control their reproductive lives. Women reported little choice over the childbearing demands…
Research paper
Capitalizing Community: Waste, Wealth, and (Im)Material Labor in Kampal
Biomass briquettes have emerged as a development silver bullet, supposedly converting waste to wealth and tackling crises of unemployment, urban waste management, and rural deforestation. Briquettes have captured the imagination of international environmental NGOs operating in many African cities who…
Policy document
Land Tenure in South Sudan: Does it Promote Climate Change Resilience?
The authors analyse the South Sudanese Land Act 2009 with respect to its promotion of climate change resilience. Drawing on prior work and primary data, they argue that while the 2009 Land Act does contain clauses intended to promote climate…
Policy document
Climate Change and Gender in South Sudan
This study analyses existing literature and empirical data (including rainfall, temperature, health and nutrition, and climate disaster data) to investigate the difference in gender impacts of climate-related hazards in South Sudan. The authors argue that in South Sudan, women are…
Research paper
Gendered care at the margins: Ebola, gender, and caregiving practices in Uganda’s border districts
In July 2019, Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was declared a public health emergency of international concern and neighbouring countries were put on high alert. This paper examines the intersections of gender, caregiving, and livelihood practices in…
Briefing
Key Considerations: Improving Uptake of the COVID-19 Vaccine Amongst Women in South Sudan
This brief explores some of the reasons behind the low COVID-19 vaccine uptake amongst women in South Sudan during the initial phases of the roll-out. This brief draws on evidence from academic and grey literature, dashboards and datasets on COVID19…
