Fighting sexual violence together
How to turn pain into power? Finland’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Fida co-organised a webinar where Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dr. Denis Mukwege talked about his work helping survivors of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Dr. Denis Mukwege is a Congolese gynaecologist, who talks to his audience in a calm and direct manner. He explains how women are the first victims of war and how rape is used as a tactic of war. He truly knows what he is talking about: under his directorship, the Panzi Hospital has treated more than 80,000 victims of sexual violence in about 20 years.
For reasons of security, the recording does not contain the address of the survivor of sexual violence.
In his book The Power of Women, Mukwege tells about his work and gives a voice to women whom he has helped over the years. He describes how women have showed him what it means to have the strength and ability to turn pain into power.
“It means rising above the rapists and their heinous acts and refusing to stay silent. It also means the ability to oppose injustice in all its social, economic, political and cultural forms – the injustice that subjugates half of humanity to discrimination,” Mukwege says.
He underscores that turning a blind eye only ensures impunity for perpetrators.
The Nobel Peace Prize laureate emphasises that we cannot leave women to bear alone the heavy burden of injustice and sexual violence.
“Men everywhere must be part of the solution to these social evils from an early age. The answer lies in the shaping of our attitudes and in the questioning of our mindsets and norms that dictate women’s inferior status in our societies.”
Gender inequality must be addressed
A survivor of sexual violence, who received help from Dr. Mukwege, also spoke at the webinar. She described how the sexual violence affected her and how her neighbours told her to stay silent. She called on the world’s governments to bear their responsibility.
Another topic at the webinar was the measures adopted by the Finnish Foreign Ministry and Fida to fight sexual violence across the world. Finland’s Ambassador for Gender Equality Katri Viinikka described for example how Finland is supporting the International Criminal Court (ICC). The ICC’s case law has great significance for identifying conflict-related sexual violence as a serious international offence. The ICC’s Trust Fund for Victims supports victims and survivors of sexual violence in sub-Saharan Africa, including in Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic. Finland is one of the Trust Fund’s largest and longest standing donors.
The webinar also included a panel discussion, which was attended by Finland’s Ambassador for Gender Equality and representatives of five Finnish political parties. All the panellists agreed that it is extremely important to prevent sexual violence. Education and addressing the root causes of gender inequality are keys to preventing sexual violence. It was even suggested that Mukwege’s book should be required reading in schools. The panellists also underlined the importance of collaboration: together we can bring about change.
Katja Tiilikainen, Senior Adviser, Development Policy, equality questions