Special Report

Name In Here thea

Tat. Dolore dipsus wellband cipit lam at teenage plays the prae strud duisl irit, con rape victim in hendit, senim Unwatchable, dipsuscifilmfeugait a new tie made to highlight to the West the plight of Congolese girls rose, nine, was raped so violently her hip was permanently damaged

if this girl w raped as by soldiers and her parents murdered, there would be a national outcry...

...so why is it allowed to happen to thousands of girls in congo?

RepoRt and photogRaphs by Robin hammond
october 2010 MArIe cLAIre <#R#>

Special Report Slug Here

when two soldiers attacked her. Fighting back tears she whispers, When I wanted to cry, one put a gun in my mouth while the other forced himself on me. When the first had finished, the other took his turn. Asma no longer joins her classmates when they giggle about boys and has become serious and introverted. She says she enjoys studying French and wants to be a businesswoman, but adds, I dont want to get married. I dont like boys. Asmas transformation is all too common. So long as the chaos that accompanies this war conshocking tinues, so will the rapes and scenes from other atrocities. the film, A once pretty and upUnwatchable beat 25-year-old, Elizabeth is now covered in appalling scars from thirddegree burns daily reminders of the gang rape she endured and the beautiful daughter that died in the assault just weeks ago. At one time she considered herself lucky. She was a happily married mother of four children, and the family had managed to stay together despite the war. But today she sits in the charity centre where she lives, feeding the tiny baby she was pregnant with at the time she was raped. I was in my tent with my husband and youngest child, she begins. Suddenly a knife tore into the roof of the tent. My husband went out to see what was happening and I went after him but by the time Id picked up my four-year-old, three armed men were inside my home. They pushed her to the ground and drew their weapons. One of the men placed a gun to her childs head. If you scream, she dies, he said. Then the four men took turns to rape Elizabeth, her four-year-old child witnessing the entire attack. As the men left the tent they set it alight. Elizabeth survived, her daughter did not. As with so many victims of sexual violence in Congo, Elizabeths husband could not abide being with a woman who had been violated by so many men. Cultural pressure made him leave her to raise their children by herself. Elizabeth, who is no longer able to do heavy work because the skin on her arms is as tight as leather from the {continued}

Elizabeth Maombi

Elizabeth was raped in front of her fouryear-old before the familys tent was set on fire. She cannot work due to her scars.

wo weeks ago, nine-year-old Rose was raped when her mother was at church. Sitting on a bed in a charity centre, she describes tearfully how solders forced their way into her home and pushed her legs apart with such force that it permanently damaged her hip. She also has severe genital injuries that make it hard for her to walk or sit down. This little

girl is just one of millions of female victims of war where rape is used to demoralise communities. Mdecins Sans Frontires says that over half of all the rape cases it deals with worldwide are in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Shockingly, half of these Congolese victims are under 15. This systematic rape is a daily reality in Congo, where half a million women have been brutalised since the beginning of the countrys bloody civil war 14 years ago. This month, a groundbreaking threeminute film Unwatchable will be shown between trailers in cinemas across the world. It depicts a story just like Roses but using English actors, including London-based Thea Wellband as the victim. The aim is to make us take a fresh look at the crisis in this country where girls as young as two and women as old as 80 are subjected to rape on a daily basis. Because its Africa, people turn a blind eye, says Wellband. Seeing what is happening in Congo re-enacted in an English setting really makes you think about how youd feel if it was your mother, sister or

daughter, she says, adding that most of the cast and crew were in tears during filming of her rape scene. Unwatchable is based on the genuine accounts of hundreds of real Congolese women. It depicts the attack on a normal family by soldiers who break into the house and rape a teenage daughter in front of her mother, before torturing and killing her parents as seen through the eyes of the six-year-old sister. Top Hollywood film-makers flew in from LA, and the cast were given testimonies of rape victims and confessions from soldiers, to make the film as realistic as possible. All involved hope that seeing the events depicted in this way will make the world pay attention to his humanitarian crisis. The fight in Congo is primarily over the countrys rich mineral resources; the tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold that end up in the mobile phones and computers we use every day. It is only by putting pressure on the big firms supplying these items that further atrocities can be prevented. Asma, 14, was out collecting firewood

Sister Deodata

An Ursuline nun, Sister Deodata is a director of Alpha Ujuvi, a childrens charity for victims of sexual violence.

Vumilia Kimanizanya Zawadi Devota

Zawadi, 18, was gang-raped and shot in the hip. She also contracted HIV.

Vumilia, 38, was raped by four men and gave birth to triplets. Three months after their birth, she was raped again.
october 2010 MArIe cLAIre <#R#>

Special Report

Congo: the hard facts

The Democratic Republic of Congo is located in Central Africa. It is the third largest African country and its citizens are among the poorest in the world. The ongoing conflict in Congo began in August 1998 following invasion by Rwandan and Ugandan armies. The conflict focused on gaining control of the countrys substantial natural resources, which include diamonds, copper and zinc. Despite a peace agreement in 2003, fighting continues in the east, driven by the trade in these conflict materials. Over five million people have died as a result of the war, and millions have been displaced, which has led to the impoverishment of many thousands. There are frequent reports of widespread killings and widespread sexual violence. More than 200,000 Congolese women have been raped by armed forces, and the number is constantly rising. The prevalence and intensity of rape is described as the worst in the world. These rapes also contribute to the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV. According to a report by the Enough! Project, an organisation dedicated to banning the use of conflict materials, a number of major high-street mobile phone and computer brands have refused to check whether they use conflict-free materials. Their reaction has created headlines in the United States and the UK.

The Survivors

Victims of sexual violence at a drop-in centre run by the Catholic charity Caritas.

scarring, survives by begging for food for her children from people who themselves are struggling to feed their families. When they informed me that my daughter died in the fire, I feel like I died inside. Sometimes I still want to kill myself. The rape, the brutalisation, the abandonment, the hopelessness it is a shockingly familiar story. In this society, when a woman has been raped, it is not only the physical injuries that cause her so much suffering. So great is the stigma attached to sexual violation in Congolese culture that many women dare not speak out, or come forward for treatment, because they are so terrified of anyone especially their husbands and families discovering what has happened to them. One woman, however, is speaking out. Vumilia is now a mentor for the Catholic charity Caritas at its centre in Goma, the city at the epicentre of the crisis. She now welcomes victims into her small home, giving them advice and a sense of hope. Vumilia herself was gang-raped by four men, kidnapped and made a wife.
<#L#> MArIe cLAIre october 2010

Vumilia eventually escaped but she was pregnant with her rapists children. She gave birth to triplets, but without the protection of a man she was an easy target and was raped again. A handful of men convicted of rape sit in Goma prison. But this is a crime where the risk of being caught and punished is very slim. Arrests and prosecutions take too long, and many victims are either too poor to prosecute or prefer to keep quiet. Sister Deodata is a director of childrens charity Alpha Ujuvi. Half of the small children in her care have been raped. Many children have been made sexual slaves, infected with disease such as HIV or have internal injuries from violent rapes, she says. In the compound of school buildings, she watches as 50 children aged between seven and 16 sing and dance, taking turns in pairs to lead from the centre of a circle. Its a great pity what this generation of children has had to endure, she adds, but these children are the lucky ones. We are giving them hope the best gift of all.

how can you help?

get involved today by logging on to globalwitness.org/unwatchable, and sign a petition against the use of conflict materials. your signatures will be sent to the major electronics companies demanding they change their sourcing policies and exclude conflict materials from products. For more information go to globalwitness.org. to see the film Unwatchable in full, visit marieclaire.co.uk/unwatchable

on set photography by John Millar