Background on the Campaign
The atrocities being perpetrated against women and girls in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are nothing less than a femicide – the systematic destruction of the Congolese female population. Since 1996, sexual violence against women and girls in the Eastern DRC has been used as a weapon of war to torture, humiliate and destroy not only women and girls, but entire families and whole communities. Since the conflict began, hundreds of thousands of women and girls have been raped. Advocates from the region have told stories of unthinkable atrocities that are taking place, including cannibalism, chopping off body parts, rape with tools and weapons, and sexual assault of minors as young as 10 months and elders as old as 87 years. Many members of the female population within the region have endured sexual slavery, kidnapping, unlawful detention, recruitment of young girls into armed forces, and forced prostitution.
As before the war, discrimination against women and girls underlies the violence perpetrated against them. The current climate of impunity allows sexual violence to flourish.
In December 2006, Eve Ensler interviewed Dr. Denis Mukwege, head of Panzi Hospital in Bukavu, DRC, about conditions in Eastern DRC. Panzi Hospital is presently the only referral hospital in North and South Kivu available to meet the high demand for services for women victims of sexual violence and fistula treatment.
In May 2007, UNICEF hosted Eve’s visit to Panzi Hospital in Bukavu and the HEAL Africa Hospital in Goma. The violence perpetrated against women there, and scale of damage that Eve saw firsthand was so horrific that V-Day decided to initiate a two to five year public education and action campaign on the DRC, mobilizing UNICEF as a partner in the effort.
Shortly after, in August 2007, V-Day and UNICEF (in partnership with UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict,) launched Stop Raping our Greatest Resource: Power to Women of the Democratic Republic of Congo, a global campaign.
V-Day is a global movement to end violence against women and girls that raises funds and awareness through benefit productions of Playwright/Founder Eve Ensler’s award winning play The Vagina Monologues. In 2007, more than 3000 V-Day events took place in the U.S. and around the world. To date, the V-Day movement has raised over $80 million and educated millions about the issue of violence against women and the efforts to end it, crafted international educational, media and PSA campaigns, launched the Karama program in the Middle East, reopened shelters, and funded over 5000 community-based anti-violence programs and safe houses in Kenya, South Dakota, Egypt and Iraq. The 'V' in V-Day stands for Victory, Valentine and Vagina. http://www.vday.org
UNICEF is on the ground in over 150 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. Visit http://www.unicef.org