The Ivory Coast's Greatest Shame
by Jennifer Wong
You've heard this narrative before: in a time of political turmoil and violent uprising, combatants on both sides of the conflict take advantage of the confusion and chaos to abduct and sexually abuse women and young girls. In the midst of it all, attackers often go unpunished by the ruling power either because the attackers themselves are the government or because the government, newly formed and still shaky, is simply ill-equipped to help the victims.
This war narrative has resurfaced in the case of the Ivory Coast conflict between, the pro-government south and the rebel-seized north. Earlier this month, Human Rights Watch released a painstakingly detailed report (properly entitled, "My Heart is Cut") documenting the widespread sexual violence that has occurred against women in the last seven years. Ironically, despite the continued sexual violence against women by both pro-government and rebel forces, this war has its roots in the northerners' complaints of xenophobic policies and human rights violations by the government.
Both sides are to blame for a wide range of horrific and politically motivated acts of sexual violence. Since 2002, according to the HRW report, rebel forces were responsible for "rape, gang rape, sexual assault, forced miscarriages, and forced incest." Women and girls who were thought to be in support of the government, or had familial ties to the government, were usually targeted. Additionally, "sexual violence took place in a context of other acts of brutal violence including killing, cannibalism, torture, assault, abduction, forced conscription, arbitrary detention, forced labor, and forced displacement." The frequency and intensity of sexual violence committed by rebel forces has decreased since the implementation of UN and French peace-keeping troops in 2004.
The human rights violations committed by pro-government forces began in 2000 with the sexual violence peaking during 2002-2004 and continuing on today. Rape, gang rape, sexual torture and sexual slavery are among their despicable acts of sexual exploitation. Those who were thought to be supporters of the northern-rebels, members of political opposition groups or relatives of political leaders from opposition groups were vulnerable to attack. Additionally, women from the northern ethnic groups were also targeted. Furthermore, these acts of sexual violence were often accompanied by "massacres, torture, mutilation, and forced recruitment of children and others."
These repeated sexual assaults have dire emotional, physical and social consequences for victims. Victims of sexual abuse experience depression, nightmares and insomnia. Repeated rapes accompanied by beatings can also lead to severe damage to the body. Some victims die of untreated infections and internal bleeding while the surviving victims of repeated rape can continue to experience pain in the abdomen and vaginal bleeding years after the initial abuse. Furthermore, victims will also have problems during urination, sexual intercourse and giving birth. Most often, these women are at risk for HIV, AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.
Perhaps worse than the physical and psychological traumas is the social stigmatization experienced by victims of sexual abuse. Those who are sexually abused are often shunned by family and community. Blame lies not with the perpetrator but the helpless victim. Because of the stigma and shame attached to women who have endured sexual violence, most victims will not report the incident or seek medical help.
Though the latest peace talks have made some progress in other areas, nothing in the recent negotiations tackles the ongoing sexual violence or attempts to prosecute the attackers. Out of fear of hurting negotiation efforts (possibly causing a resurgence of hostilities and a flare-up of sexual violence), the international community has not pressured the Ivory Coast to fight the rampant impunity. But sexual violence against women is unacceptable both in times of peace and in times of war. This conflict between rebel and pro-government forces may be drawn out indefinitely, but the Ivory Coast and the international community must at least take steps to punish those who commit acts of sexual abuse. Without punishment, the perpetrators of sexual violence will only continue committing these atrocities along with other human rights violations. If women and young girls continue to be subjugated to sexual violence in times of conflict, there will be no future to fight for; what future can you hope for when the current generation of potential mothers is too physically and psychologically scarred to bear children?
Sources:
http://www.hrea.org/lists2/display.php?language_id=1&id=5422
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/08/01/cotedi16558.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6453123.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3901939.stm http://hrw.org/reports/2007/cdi0807/
