Quote Originally Posted by Stan View Post
Fact is rape in (then) Zaire “locally speaking”, was not considered a horrific act as we in the West consider it - Zairian males (soldiers, civilians and especially government officials) never gave it another thought.
As I think Stan implictly points out here, Zairian/Congolese males may not have thought it a horrific crime. What women thought didn't really enter into it--in a society where they were both disempowered and had no recourse, they could do little but to (try to) go on with their lives.

Nevertheless, we know from programs that deal with survivors of gender-based violence in Africa that the effects, even if less spoken of, are usually traumatic, psychologically, socially, and often medically.

I might draw a parallel with slavery. As we know, many slaves--in the face of conditions that gave them no ability to change their condition--endured slavery as part of their "natural condition," to be dealt with as best they could. It made it no less horrific, no less unwanted by its victims, no less a moral crime, and (practiced on a large scale) no less of a crime against humanity.

Some useful resources on GBV in conflict settings can be found here. See also UNHCR's Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Against Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons. Guidelines for Prevention and Response.