Survivors Call to the World

We, the women survivors of rape in the Congo, fear for the extermination of the female population through acts of sexual violence, which will be the end of the Congolese society and call for the immediate intervention to stop the war on women and girls!! We, women, know that without us there is no culture, there is no society, there is no future. We have suffered for ten years and we will wait no longer.

We call on President Kabila, the Government, the United Nations, World leaders, Religious leaders, Traditional chiefs, Local communities, the good people of the world and sister survivors.

We call on you to act immediately with us on our behalf!

1. To recognize the value, the resource and the centrality of women in the family, the community and the world.
2. Break Taboos: The voices of women and girl survivors must be heard here and everywhere. End the Shame. End the stigmatization. Stop the banalization of sexual violence and make it unacceptable.
3. We call on the Government to show its concern for the women of Congo, by providing the necessary resources and mandate to local authorities, especially security forces, to protect women and girls from sexual violence.
4. United Nations has the mandate and the resources. They need the will, determination and energy to keep women and girls safe.
5. The international community must act on behalf of Congolese women and girls whether or not it serves their economic or political self-interest.
6. Less than 5% of all cases of sexual violence have been prosecuted. End impunity. Strengthen the judicial system. Arrest the top known leaders and rapists in-country and the ones who are orchestrating it from abroad. Prosecution for all perpetrators, NOT promotions
7. Provide urgent and necessary support to survivors. Appropriate care for physical and psychological wounds. Reparations for survivors in compensation for suffering and economic loss resulting from rape.
8. Insure that the situation in the DRC never repeats itself here or anywhere. We are all responsible for the protection of women and girls.
9. Congolese men need to follow the example of other Congolese men who have stood with their lives for the protection, the safety and the empowerment of women.
10. We make up more than 52% of the population but there are fewer than 10% women in positions of authority, in violation of our own constitution. Support women in taking leadership positions and power in the DRC