"It is six minutes past four on radio Baraka." "Today's topic is rape." "How do you reach out to raped women?" "We provide education, organise meetings and stage plays." "This is a way for them to obtain information." "They can see and hear for themselves and tell us their secret." "It means that the women ofAfrica... the women of Congo, the women of Fizi..." "The truth is that we live in a very problematic culture." "It is very difficult for a woman to speak out about being raped." "But we're glad that women tell us their stories in private." "It isn't..." "How much are they?" "How much?" "You drive me nuts." "You only want to pay 1000F?" "For how much you think I can resell?" "You want to buy fish forjust 1000F?" "How can l make a profit then?" "That is your problem." "If you want more money, that's your business." "It happened in 2002." "That is when my problems began." "There was a war." "We were living in Baraka in the Fizi region." "Then we fled to Ubwari." "In Ubwari the war caused problems for us too." "We didn't have enough to eat and nowhere to live." "We had hardly any money, because the men couldn't move freely." "Only the women could." "I started to work, together with six other women." "We walked to the other side of the peninsula." "We encountered many problems on this journey." "That day we were walking along with our baskets on our backs." "Suddenly many soldiers surrounded us." "Some soldiers grabbed me by the neck, others around the waist." "It was very dangerous." "I thought I was going to die." "They didn't use knives, but I didn't cooperate." "They wanted to rape me and tore off my clothes." "My clothes were torn to shreds." "I was ashamed and covered myself with a piece of cloth." "I was ashamed because it is not normal here... for a grown woman to walk around naked... and to have to tell her husband she's been raped." "It is shameful, a taboo." "It doesn't exist here." "Thousands ofwomen were victims of sexual violence in Congo... during the war." "Some waited until 2004 to tell anyone... that they were raped back in 2001 ." "To this very day many ofthem keep it quiet." "That is proof ofthe scale... of the problem of sexual violence in Congo." "Can anyone tell what this picture shows?" "What does this picture show?" "Tell me, mother." "This picture shows a man attacking a woman with a knife." "The man throws down the woman." "He holds a knife... and wants to rape the woman." "Indeed, it is a man with a knife who wants to rape a woman." "People are pointing at them, but they don't do anything." "Right." "Why are the people pointing?" "Tell me, mother." "I find it unbelievable." "It shows the situation we women are in." "Our men beat and rape us." "Many women keep silent about it." "But this problem can only end ifwe talk about it." "If you do not say anything, no one can know you have a problem." "If we keep silent, the problem will only get worse." "There were many of them, they came from the mountains." "The children were outside and yelled:" "Mom, they're going to kill us." "It was 9 p.m., they came in the dark." "They came in and got hold of me." "They asked for money." "They took my money." "They beat me on the chest while I was lying on the ground." "They beat me to a pulp." "I was exhausted and they pinned me to the ground." "One ofthem kicked me in the stomach." "Another one pressed here, very hard, until it hurt." "Then I yelled:" "I'm pregnant." "Don't kill me." "I started to tremble all over and I burst into tears." "I didn't know they would rape me one by one." "They don't wash, their clothes are riddled with lice and they rape." "That's why I wash each time when I smell that scent." "Each time I smell their scent, I wash." "Because what they did to me, was bad." "It was against my will." "Hallelujah." "Amen." "If you want to marry a woman, tell her father." "God doesn't want you to tell him, he wants you to go to her parents." "Just say:" "I want to marry her." "They will not refuse." "Hallelujah." "Amen." "But ifyou force her... in that case..." "Let's talk about rape." "Awoman who has been raped, cries." "She cries with grief because ofwhat happened to her." "They forced her and she can't accept it." "She can't accept what happened." "Instead of keeping quiet about it she goes and gets help." "That's how it is." "Satan is the enemy... who brings all kinds of rape to church." "I was really moved by the theme of the minister's sermon." "He spoke about sexual violence... and that doesn't happen a lot within the church." "He used the word ubakagi, which comes from the word kubaka." "Kubaka is a word from Kibembe, my mother tongue." "It means cutting." "For example, mutilating with a knife." "This word is used for animals." "So if a woman has been raped, she is mutilated." "The woman is considered a mutilated animal." "In our society women are considered inferior." "The truth is that we are regarded as second-class citizens." "When I come home..." "I'm always welcomed by my children." "They welcome me and tell me all their stories." "But that day nobody welcomed me." "When I came home I wondered:" "Where is everybody?" "Where are the children?" "I went into the house, the door was open." "It was ajar." "I thought they might be inside." "Are they eating?" "Let me take a look." "When I came in, some of the children were asleep." "Others looked down." "They were all sitting next to their mother, looking sad." "Then I saw her lying on the bed." "She couldn't stop crying." "She was crying and looked very sad." "Then she told me the whole story." "Then she told me how it happened." "Anyhow, it is unthinkable... that I would share my wife with a Burundian." "That's what I said when she was lying there." "I said:" "I cannot possibly share my wife with a Burundian." "You're going back to your family." "I release you... and I don't want my dowry back." "I can't work anymore." "Life has become hard." "After the rape l could no longer have children." "When I think back to it, it makes me sad and very tired." "It was the war." "The war destroyed everything." "They came with the intention of destroying the people." "In the old days we had a good life with our men... but they came to destroy it." "They came to tarnish our honour and disgrace us." "That is what they came to do." "Their goal was to destroy us." "I'll explain why sexual violence happens." "Here in Congo we didn't know this horror." "The rape problem started with the war." "There are three countries... that are responsible for rape." "The Burundi army committed rape." "The Rwandan army committed rape in Congo." "The Ugandan army, too, committed rape in Congo." "Those soldiers brought rape to Congo." "I can't deny it, I am a soldier myself." "And they are soldiers as well." "It is important to say... that Congo has laws." "There are laws now against sexual violence and the president says... that anyone who commits such a crime in Congo, will be punished." "What I can say is that... if Congolese soldiers committed rape as well... it is because they learned it from the foreign armies." "I took a bucket to go and fetch water." "At the door I felt pain, as if I was cut." "It felt as if something cut me and I felt pain here." "I went inside again and noticed I was bleeding." "I think it happened because they threw me on the ground... and kicked me in the stomach." "Shortly afterwards my husband came home." "He had been away." "When he came home, he got angry." "I was bleeding and had a miscarriage." "The blood kept flowing and flowing." "I bled for three months before it stopped." "My heart has been broken for a very long time now." "My wife and I had many girls together." "Many of them died." "We also had a son, but he died as well." "When she miscarried a boy, my heart broke." "The reason why..." "I no longer wanted my wife around... was because she argued." "Because she talked back, I thought it better... that she should live with her parents for good." "Because I lost my money, my child.... and because of what had happened to her." "No, she had to go." "Forever." "The people look and point at you." "In our village you are given the cold shoulder." "Would a man stay with such a woman?" "Share her with the FDD soldiers?" "If a man stays with his raped wife... he has no peace." "When you walk on the street, you don't feel at ease." "Not even among friends." "When you quarrel a bit with your friends, they say:" "You share your wife with FDD." "What can you answer to that?" "Thank you for coming." "You've accepted my invitation." "I'm glad you felt able to come." "Since 1996... and again in 1998... the war has inflicted much damage on our country." "We are therefore very happy... that we now have a law against sexual violence." "Yes?" "I would like to say something." "Let me finish." "There is no point passing laws if people do not respect them." "Once laws have been passed... the authorities should enforce them." "Only then will the law work." "I would like to share my thoughts about young girls." "If you see two young girls at 11 pm... walking on the street, or even later... in an inappropriate place... where they are flirting with men... they contribute to rape." "If a girl flirts with a man, it will only cause problems." "That doesn't mean that a girl who flirts, has to be raped?" "She can never be held responsible for being raped." "The court must punish the rapist." "I'd like to add something to what this man said." "Since my childhood it is inappropriate to wear only one cloth." "It would be a good thing if you would educate these women... on how to dress." "Nowadays we see women who wear only one cloth." "They are virtually walking around in their pants." "You women rape the men." "So you shouldn't accuse the men." "So she deserves to be raped?" "She asks to be raped?" "In former days rape was defined as forcing women to have sex." "Now the definition of rape is much broader." "Even if you beat a woman, it is rape." "If you stick your finger in her nose, it is seen as rape." "I think that men have too many fantasies about rape." "The fantasies of men go too far." "So you, the authorities, should fight... so that women have a place again in society." "You must fight against rape." "Why doesn't it stop?" "I don't think that men rape... because women dress in a certain way, in a miniskirt or trousers." "It continues because the offenders are not punished." "Okay." "Do you mean that rape takes place... because there are no laws?" "The laws do exist." "They are not punished?" "Indeed." "Yes, they are punished." "We know that rape was introduced to Congo during the war." "It came to Congo because ofthe war." "We still don't know why it goes on now after the war." "It is a matter of time." "It came so suddenly in the war." "We don't know if it will take one or five years to solve this problem." "It will gradually stop over the course oftime... through punishment and education." "Please continue your efforts." "But there is no excuse for raping a woman." "There is no excuse." "I'm not sure if my neighbours know." "No one has talked about it." "My husband hasn't even told his family... that he left me because ofwhat happened to me." "The neighbours would no longer drop by ifthey knew, that's for sure." "They would laugh at me." "You know how women are when they hear that you... have been had by unknown soldiers." "If I see a soldier, I get very frightened." "I wonder:" "Where is he from?" "Does he want to rape me?" "There are many soldiers in the forest and I am scared all the time." "I feel safer ifthere are many other people around." "They should stop." "What they're doing is bad." "Others continue to rape women in their own family." "Sometimes married women are forced by their husband... to have sex three or four times a day." "This is a new problem in families." "Even now, after the war, rape still occurs frequently." "The war has changed our culture for the worse." "It is true." "Our culture has deteriorated." "Some people witnessed atrocities during the war... the massacres, looting, and rape... and started to do the same after the war." "We invite organisations and people who want to develop themselves." "Tomorrow, on Sunday at 2 p.m. the women will stage a play." "In the centre, at the UNHCR, here under the mango trees." "It's free, you only need eyes and feet." "The play contains important lessons for men." "It has an important message." "It will make you cry." "Men are especially welcome, because this play is for the men." "It will educate and help you men." "I decided to participate in this play... because it would do me good." "It is better that I participate... because we want to show rape victims... that they shouldn't hide." "They find the courage to approach us." "It is important for me, because those things happened to me as well." "The play we're going to stage... is about women who have been raped." "O, my God." "O, my God." "Get down, on the ground." "When I was out in the fields, I saw people in uniform approaching." "Others wore civilian clothes." "Theyjumped me." "I miscarried. lt was a little boy." "What is going on?" "People, when will these rapes finally come to an end?" "It started with our ancestors." "Women are raped and ignored." "If you rape a woman, you are raping your mother." "If you rape a girl, you are raping your daughter or sister." "This is the end of our play." "I went to fetch firewood and helped carry the wood." "We took the same way home." "On the road we saw a man who ran after us." "He said:" "You stole my palm nuts." "We said:" "No, we just searched for wood." "We ran away and he chased after us." "We ran and I stumbled over a hole in the ground." "He grabbed me and did bad things to me." "He said to me:" "Do you want to die or sleep with me?" "I said:" "Have your way with me then." "Then he said:" "You stole my palm nuts." "I said:" "No, we didn't." "He said:" "You're the one that stole my palm nuts." "He said:" "Today you will die." "I asked:" "What did I do wrong?" "He grabbed me here and by the neck." "He thrust his leg against me... and then he took me." "Everyone knows that this happened to her." "When people talk about it, she feels very unhappy." "She doesn't feel well, gets angry and starts to cry." "That is the state my child is in now." "Men think she is worthless... because she's no longer a virgin." "She will become a prostitute... because they know she already had sex with a man." "It really makes me feel angry." "If I had had a gun, I would have killed him." "We've done our best." "We have arrested him." "I don't know if he has been released or if he is still in jail." "I don't know." "Hello." "He is here, he is here." "Is he from Mboko?" "Yes." "His name is Bagume." "By law, an accused person is deemed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law." "Can you tell us why you are in jail?" "Why are you incarcerated here?" "Well, Bagume?" "Why don't you tell me why you're here?" "Do you know what harm your actions have done?" "We've seen the wounds in her neck... because you took her by force." "She was injured, didn't you see that?" "Didn't you see that?" "No." "How do you feel now deep in your heart?" "Do you see that?" "How do you feel when you look into your heart?" "Do you regret what you did or do you think it's normal?" "Well, Bagume?" "Yes?" "So you feel it's normal to do that?" "Yes." "After the interview with Bagume..." "I felt despair hit me again." "Because I expected to see a man filled with remorse... because he had raped a little girl." "But unfortunately... he showed no remorse at all." "The chief of police at the station... belongs to the Mufuliru tribe." "Bagume's father also belongs to the Mufuliru tribe." "If they strike a bargain and the father gives the chief money... and says: 'Please chief, here, take this money'." "'We want the case dismissed'." "That's the way it goes at the station." "That's the way it goes here." "So far there has been no progress with the case... because I don't have the resources." "I don't have the resources to take the matter to court." "The abuse never ends because the men aren't punished." "Even if a lawsuit seems to progress, it doesn't really... and the offender returns to the community after six months or a year." "You'll understand that others then will just continue raping women." "That is why we feel that this problem... doesn't get the attention it deserves." "We could no longer express our feelings." "We went our separate ways." "My family wanted us to stay together, but I refused." "It was what she wanted." "That's just the way women are." "Because ofthe advice of others..." "Her family advised me to forgive her." "Eventually I thought:" "We have children together." "I thought:" "If I do not take her back and have no money either... it will not be easy for me to marry another woman... to take care ofthe children." "She asked for forgiveness and I granted it." "I no longer think about it." "I've put it behind me." "I see it as an accident and that period is closed now." "I thought a child could comfort my husband." "My husband had said that if I gave birth to a son... he would carry his name." "When I miscarried, my husband became angry... because the child would have carried his name." "When my husband took me back, he was very quiet." "I think he thought of the unborn baby." "Then my daughter gave birth to a boy." "I adopted the baby when he was one year and five months old." "Espoir, Espoir." "Come." "Come here." "Come inside." "Come." "Have you eaten yet?" "Have you had your porridge?" "Where did Maboe go?" "He is outside, isn't he?" "Our children don't understand it." "They keep asking:" "Why has mum changed so much?" "She used to be different." "The children suspect something, but we don't know how to explain it." "The war has turned us into who we are now." "We can't tell them what happened." "But still the children sense... that something has happened to us." "Is there a woman or man among us who has been attacked... or has had this happen to their family?" "Is there someone who has been raped, or a family member... who dares to talk about this and wants to break the silence?" "Development." "Progress." "My wife has been raped." "We couldn't deal with it." "We didn't understand each other." "I took revenge on my wife by sending her away." "I didn't accept that I had to share her with another man." "Awoman raped by six men." "Would I be the seventh?" "That wouldn't happen." "She had to go back to her parents." "But I felt it important to go back to my wife." "Development." "Progress." "Now I'm back with my wife, in spite ofthe difficulties." "Because it wasn't her fault." "She was taken away and raped, as in the first picture." "Development." "Progress." "I no longer feel ashamed." "I'm not afraid to tell this to other men." "I'm here to give advice to men and women." "Development." "Progress." "I'll stop there." "rape is bad it causes many problems" "rape is bad it causes many problems" "We get on well now." "We understand each other now." "The way it used to be, the way we were before." "We go to the fields together." "If we need water, I sometimes fetch it myself." "When I see she feels weak, I do the dishes." "I even wash the children's clothes." "When my husband took me back, I saw that he is different from the others." "Another man wouldn't take his wife back after something like that." "I see now that my husband is different from other men." "I always think ofthose times when I see she is ill." "When she's ill, she sleeps anywhere." "She's too weak then." "She'll sleep here on the floor in her clothes." "When I see her like that, I say to myself:" "She relives the shock." "I try to comfort her, but she remains weak and won't get better."