Violence against women in Congo, India and Guatemala

Violence against women is not only the most widespread example of a human rights violation, but probably the least evident, going largely unpunished. This is shown by the reports published and research conducted by the United Nations, international human rights agencies and the global women’s and feminist movements which have been denouncing this situation for decades.

Violence against women is a worldwide phenomenon affecting all societies, regardless of their political and economic systems; it affects all cultures, social classes and ethnic groups. This violence is largely exercised by men against women, and it both reflects and reinforces gender inequality. However, in most countries, only recently has it been considered a public human rights issue in which both society in general and the State has to react and take steps to halt such a situation and provide care for its victims.

Violence against women takes many forms, from domestic abuse to rape, sexual abuse and harmful cultural practices ranging from genital mutilation and honour crimes to premature marriage. Trafficking in women and girls to be exploited largely in the sex industry is another form of violence; furthermore, the fact that many women, especially young girls and adolescents, are unable to demand safe sex and reject undesired sex increases their risk of contagion with HIV/AIDS. In the context of wars and natural disasters, in which most of the refugees and displaced population are women and children, women are raped, kidnapped, mutilated and used as sex slaves; the systematic rape of women and girls has been used as a weapon in numerous armed conflicts.

 The dimensions of violence against women are alarming. According to different sources,

 The consequences of violence against women are devastating; survivors regularly suffer from emotional disorders and mental health problems for the rest of their lives, not to mention those who meet their death.

This project aims at contemplating violence against women as a historic and worldwide phenomenon.

 I have selected countries from different geographical areas with different situations, cultures, religions and levels of development; in each one, I describe both the specific social context and the different specific forms of violence, as follows:

 ·      Guatemala: the murders of women in Guatemala and Mexico in a climate of widespread violence against women.

·      India: It is estimated that there are 40 million girls less in India due to selective abortions and infanticides, acid attacks and other “honour” crimes against women.

·      Democratic Republic of Congo: In the eastern of The Democratic Republic of Congo, tens of thousands of women and young girls are being raped with impunity and extreme brutality by all sides in the conflict, civilians, militiamen, armed groups, foreign-armed groups and members of the Congolese Army.

GOMA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO - OCTOBER 17, 2008:

Nzigire, from a region near Goma called Sake, was raped by 3 members of the CNDP (Congrès National pour la Défense du Peuple/National Congress for the Defence of the People). They also shot her in her the breast. She was found and cared for by a female counselor from Sake, and later diverted to Gersom Hospital where they removed the bullet from her breast. Nzigire now suffers from mental disorders; she does not speak, she refuses to eat, and lies in bed the whole day. (I cannot put snap)

GUATEMALA CITY, GUATEMALA - APRIL 2, 2007:

Filomena Sajche, 30, reacts as she talks to a forensic doctor while filing charges against her husband at the Public Ministry building in Guatemala City.

MINOVA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO - NOVEMBER 29, 2008:

Mama Masika, who works in a counseling house that she founded in 2001, listens to Zabibu, 10. While collecting potatoes three days earlier in Kalungu, Zabibu was raped by two members of the CNDP (Congrès National pour la Défense du Peuple/National Congress for the Defence of the People). Mama Masika founded the house in 2001 after she recovered from her own experience with rape. In 1998 a group of Tutsi soldiers entered her village during the Congolese civil war. They killed her husband and cut him into pieces. They ordered Mama Masika to make a bed with the pieces. She was forced to lie on it and 12 soldiers raped her. Her two daughters, 12 and 14 years old, were also raped in the next room. After these attacks she fainted and when she woke up she found herself in a hospital. She could not remember what had happened to her. Months later, her daughter gave birth, but could not remember how she had gotten pregnant. Nobody was telling her the truth, until someone from a women’s organization started talking to her and helped her to understand what happened. After 3 years of counseling, she had recovered somewhat and decided to open this house to help women who are victims of sexual violence. Since 2001, she has helped 5,875 women and has also taken care of children who were born as a result of rape.

HARYANA, INDIA - SEPTEMBER 19, 2009:

A group of pregnant women wait for ultrasound examinations at a medical clinic in Haryana; the procedure is a vital diagnostic tool but can also be used to determine the sex of the foetus. A poster over their heads warns that sex-selective abortion is illegal and carries a sentence of five years in jail. The law, passed in 1994, penalizes medical professionals who contribute female foeticide by revealing the sex.

SALEM, INDIA - FEBRUARY 8, 2010:

A nurse takes care of abandoned baby girls in the Life Line Trust Home in Salem (Tamil Nadu). In its latest initiative to wipe out the practice of female foeticide and female infanticide, the government of Tamil Nadu has set up cradles homes where unwanted girls can be abandoned.

JAIPUR, INDIA, FEBRUARY 1, 2010:

Shahin, 13 years old, polishes semi-precious stones inside a house in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India, known as the Indian “city of gems” on February 1, 2010. She earns 50 rupees (US$ 1) per day, most of which goes toward helping her family save for the dowry and wedding expense they will pay when she marries. Two hundred thousand rupees will be needed to pay the expenses of her wedding. 

HARYANA, INDIA - OCTOBER 2, 2009:

Suman, 19 years old, eats on the floor while her husband sits above on the charpoy in the village of Madina, (Haryana). Born and raised in Assam, Suman was forcibly brought to Madina by a trafficker and sold to her husband for 40 000 rupees (US$ 842) at the age of 17. Some 20 years after the onset of sex-selective abortion, young men in India now face a shortage of eligible brides and are prepared to take desperate measures. As a result, there has been a sharp increase in trafficking of women from other regions of India or from countries such as Bangladesh or Nepal.

PUNJAB, INDIA - NOVEMBER 2, 2009:

A group of women sits idly in their room inside a protection home in Rothak (Haryana). Many of the residents were rescued after been trafficked to be sold as wives or to work as prostitutes in Haryana and Delhi; they seem almost paralyzed by the trauma of their experiences.