Each month in the Democratic Republic of the Congo 11,000 rapes are committed as a tool of warfare. And the DRC is only one country where rape is a deadly weapon targeted at women.
Still, despite two U.N. resolutions – one that has been on the books for close to 10 years – combatants commit sexual violence with impunity.
“Currently mass rape is more likely to lead to the corridors of power than to the cells of a prison,” said Ines Alberdi, executive director of UNIFEM, the U.N. agency charged with women’s issues, speaking at a recent panel held at the Aspen Institute’s Council of World Women Leaders.
“International efforts to address violence against women are often hindered by a lack of political will,” said Melanne Verveer, ambassador-at-large for global women’s issues at the U.S. Department of State.
An innovative communication strategy is key to helping victims and increasing better responses to sexual violence in war, the panelists said.
“Communication is important in helping the women, in particular, who are victims of the violence to connect with one another, to know where resources are … to know what the threats are,” said Verveer. “And radio is being used by many in civil society in very creative and innovative ways that are really life savers.” For example, radio broadcasts help isolated women by giving them information about health and legal services.
Margot Wallstrom, vice president of institutional relations and communication strategy at the European Commission, maintains a blog and often writes about rape as a war crime. When she does, she receives critical comments. “This is not something that everybody wants to hear,” she says. “It’s an uncomfortable message”
“Perhaps if we were reading more widely and more consistently and more significantly from all kinds of media sources and there were significant discussions happening on television, where we rarely, if ever, hear about this, it may well change what needs to change, which is to have this issue taken seriously by the people who are in positions of enormous power and responsibility to make a difference, “ said Verveer.