Rape and sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo: a case study of gender-based violence

The just war tradition is based on two principles: jus ad bellum – just war-making, and jus in bello – just war-fighting. Jus in bello contains the non-combatant immunity principle. This ‘protects’ civilians during war, giving them ‘immunity’ from the violence of war-fighting. Women are, for the most part, non-combatants. Still, their experiences during war are far from ‘protected’. Following the widespread use of rape in the conflicts in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, the raping of women in combat and occupation zones is now considered a human rights violation and treated as a crime against humanity. Yet, despite developments in international law and policy-making on sexual violence in armed conflict, the systematic rape of girls and women during armed conflict continues. In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), this type of gender-based violence is being perpetrated and facilitated at a macro, meso, and micro level. This article will explore these levels through a feminist lens and will consider what is necessary to achieve just post bellum (just peace) in the DRC.