|
Abstract
|
Rape in wartimeRape in wartime has been the multiplier factor causing stress and trauma, since violence against women often results in physical, moral, psychological, and physical wounds.
RESULTS include unwanted pregnanciesUnwanted pregnancies, stigmasStigmas, and protracted rebellious attitudes of childrenProtracted rebellious attitudes of children born under such painful circumstances in the Eastern Democratic Republic of CongoDemocratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) since the outbreak of the first war in 1996. Suspected of being potential criminals, like their genitors, and/or symbolising community war-crime victimisationCommunity war-crime victimisation, many children born from rape experience extreme violence and murder attempts. To protect themselves, such children join criminal groups. Traditional community leaders and local associationsAssociations, as components of civil society organisationsCivil society organisations (CSOs), rely on cultural norms to nurture and protect this category of war-affected children from the systemic violence to which they turn as their protective mechanisms. This inquiry employs qualitative methods to document children's maltreatmentChildren's maltreatment and to assess the CSOs' efficacy in protecting these children. The results of this study are developed under the following concepts: the experiences of mothers as survivors and their responses; the experiences of children born from rape; extreme violence from persons and the community; children's reaction as a consequence of maltreatment; and the challenging functions of CSOs to protect children born from rape, justified by the predominance of culturally based norms in the Kalonge chieftaincy of South Kivu communities.
Language: en |