Africa for Women’s Rights: Democratic Republic of Congo

Women’s rights protection instruments ratified by Democratic Republic of Congo:

• CEDAW: ratified in 1986
• CEDAW Protocol: not signed, not ratified
• Maputo Protocol: ratified in 2009

Ratify!

Although the Congo, The Democratic Republic of the (DRC) ratified the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the Protocol to the African Charter Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol), it has still not ratified the Protocol to the CEDAW.

Respect!

The Coalition of the Campaign is concerned by: the persistence of discriminatory legislation, notably in the Family Code; sexual violence perpetrated with complete impunity in conflict zones, as well as in zones of relative stability; traditional harmful practices such as early and forced marriage; limited access to education, health and employment.

Some positive developments…

The Coalition for the Campaign acknowledges several developments relating to the protection of women’s rights in DRC: – The adoption in July 2006 of two laws on sexual violence (laws No06/018 and 06/019). However, these laws have not been effectively implemented.

• The adoption in January 2009 of a child protection law (law No09/001), which contains provisions protecting children from all forms of exploitation and sexual violence and guaranteeing the rights of pregnant women.
  
• The ratification in February 2009 of the Maputo Protocol

But discrimination and violence persist

The persistence of violations of women’s rights is encouraged by the existence of discriminatory legislation.

Discrimination in the family

Although the new Family Code prohibits polygamy, the status of marriages concluded before this law was passed remains unclear. Before the law was adopted, it was estimated that between 15% and 41% of marriages were polygamous, depending on the region. Forced marriages remain widespread. Despite provisions in the Family Code establishing equal rights to inheritance, in practice women continue to be refused the right to inherit property in certain regions.

When Ayaba, an only child, lost her father, her uncles seized all her fatherʼs property on the grounds that their niece, as a girl, should not inherit property. (Case documented by the WILDAF Benin)

Women continue to be subjected to widowhood rites. For example, in some rural communities, for periods of several months following the death of their husbands, widows are not allowed to go out of the house, or wash for several days etc. Unable to work, such women find themselves isolated and in situations of extreme poverty.

Violence

DRC has been for many years the scene of armed conflicts, during which rape has been used as a weapon of war, deployed systematically and on a huge scale. Such crimes are now being committed in zones of relative stability. Thus, despite the adoption of two laws criminalising sexual violence in 2006, cases of sexual violence continue to be reported daily with almost systemic impunity of the perpetrators.
According to the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, who visited DRC in July 2007, allegations of rape by members of the DRC Armed Forces (FADRC) and the Congolese National Police (PNC) are numerous. Numerous obstacles limit women’s ability lodge complaints: prolonged, costly legal proceedings, fear of stigmatisation and reprisals, etc. The defects of the Congolese legal justice system reduce to zero the chances of perpetrators of sexual crimes being brought to justice and punished. The lack of training for police and legal personnel also undermines women’s access to justice.

Obstacles to freedom of movement

Certain traditions deprive women of their freedom of movement and confine them indoors. In the Ouémé Valley during the period of “ORO” worship in August, women are forced to remain inside for 17 days.

Obstacles to access to education, economic vulnerability

Although a large part of the Congolese population lives in extreme poverty, women are made even more vulnerable to economic difficulties by the persistence of deep-rooted patriarchal and stereotyped behaviour with regard to their role and responsibilities.
While articles 43 and 44 of the Constitution enshrine the provision of free, obliga- tory primary education and the elimination of illiteracy, there is a wide disparity between boys and girls in education, particularly at secondary level and beyond. The high rate of girls dropping out of school is largely attributable to early and forced marriage and teenage pregnancy.

Under-representation in public and political life

In 2010, women make up only 8.4% of members of the National Assembly and 4.6% of senators. There is no law or policy to ensure the application of the principles of fair representation and non-discrimination against women (as provided for by arti- cle 14 of the Constitution). Electoral law does not set minimum quotas, but merely calls for the representation of women to be taken into account in the compiling of electoral lists.

Obstacles to access to health

The prolonged armed conflict has had an extremely negative effect on maternal mortality which may be explained by the lack of access to obstetric care, inadequate healthcare centres, limited use of existing services during pregnancy and childbirth, limited access to reproductive health and sexual hygiene services for women (particu- larly those living in rural areas) and low levels of education. The lack of information on HIV/Aids helps the virus to propagate, and women are the main victims.

The Coalition of the Campaign calls on the authorities of DRC to:

1. Repeal all legislation that discriminates against women, in conformity with CEDAW and the Maputo Protocol, particularly the provisions of the Family Code and those of the Nationality Law.
2. Take all necessary measures to put an end to discriminatory practices, in particular early and forced marriages.
3. Take all necessary measures to pros- ecute and punish perpetrators of sexual violence, in particular by providing training to judges and law enforcement personnel on the provisions of the 2006 laws; by pro- viding women with legal aid and organising awareness-raising campaigns.
4. Take all necessary measures to guarantee equality of access to all levels of educa- tion and employment, avoiding school drop- outs of girls; increasing the level of literacy of women; taking measures to eliminate existing stereotypes on the role and responsibilities of girls and women.
5. Take all necessary measures to increase women’s participation in political life, including through the adoption of the draft law on quotas.
6. Improve access for girls and women to healthcare services, particularly by intensify- ing efforts to improve the overall healthcare infrastructure, by providing better access to prenatal, postnatal and obstetric serv- ices; by providing family planning centres with adequate funds and qualified personnel, particularly in rural areas.
7. Take all necessary measures to ensure access of women to justice, including by training judges, lawyers, public prosecutors and police officers on the content of national and international texts aimed at protecting women’s rights, simplifying and disseminating these texts so as to make them accessible and comprehensible to the whole population, particularly in rural areas; creating legal aid and financial assistance structures to enable victims of violence and discrimination to go to court.
8. Take all necessary measures to imple- ment all the recommendations made by the CEDAW Committee in August 2006.
   
9. Keep to the commitments made during the Universal Periodic Review of the DRC before the UN Human Rights Council.
   
10. Ratify without delay the Protocol to CEDAW.

Principal Sources

• Focal Points: LIFDED, Group Lotus, ASADHO, Ligue des électeurs
• CEDAW Committee Recommandations, August 2006
• FIDH, Democratic Republic of the Congo: Breaking impunity www.fidh.org
• Interparliamentary Union, www.ipu.org
• UNICEF

See also

• The Africa for Women’s Rights Campaign’s Blog
• WILDAF-Benin, the campaign focal point in Democratic Republic of Congo
• http://www.wikigender.org/w/index…./Congo,_The_Democratic_Republic_of_the

WiLDAF-DRC is a member of the pan-African network WILDAF. Created in 1999, its main activities include: the establishment of a shelter and legal advice centre for women; training for legal personnel; fighting harmful traditional practices concerning widows; and implementing awareness-raising campaigns.