Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  It was an honour to be here. Thank you.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  One of the most important things is recognizing it as a problem, so it's encouraging to hear you bring up the issue, which is very important. It also begs the broader question of how to provide effective health and medical services in DRC, which is in dire need, and possibly pr

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Yes, absolutely. I would say that the vast majority, if not all, of the girls who have been associated with armed groups are probably the victims of sexual violence or sexual slavery. We've interviewed a great number of female former child soldiers who note that the best possib

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  That's such an interesting question. I would have to say that, while there are often very elaborate kinds of magical belief systems within subgroups, almost kind of a mythology that is created as being a part of armed group, in terms of traditional religion that's not something I

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Yes, this is such a powerful observation. I think you're exactly right. One other thing I think I've heard other experts on Congo say is that many armed groups try very hard not to fight each other, and instead, in a very cowardly way, end up exerting force on civilian population

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Absolutely, and I think another point you made, which is really important, is that we certainly see forms of violence against women that we never saw before the conflict, including public rape, or forced incest, or rape of the very young or the very old. However, I do think it's

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I think both explanations are valid, and I really think the second explanation rings true. I think after two decades of instability, those mechanisms that are successful, that actually work, are often mechanisms of “take what you can, and take what you can by force while you can”

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I think this is an area of enormous concern. As many of you know, Dr. Mukwege, who is the director of Panzi Hospital, is truly the hero at the forefront of the issue of sexual violence in DRC and has dedicated his life to helping women there. He did face an assassination attempt

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I always remain hopeful. I think peace building has a terrible track record in involving women. I think one of the statistics from U.N. Women is that only 16% of all peace negotiations have involved women at any point. I think this is an opportunity for us to change that. I thin

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Absolutely, and thank you so much for taking the time to read our report. I would just make a note that those statistics do come from a smaller survey, so it's not necessarily a population-based survey. Those were numbers we found in a smaller clinic-based sample of women who rep

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thank you for this wonderful question. This is an issue that we've looked at closely and one that is extraordinarily important. What will hopefully change, as part of the wider women, peace and security agenda, is an understanding that demobilization programs traditionally have

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Certainly. I think, again, this gets to the work with non-state armed combatants, many of whom are perpetrators of the violence that we're trying to understand here today. One thing that struck me as particularly heartbreaking while working in DRC is that when you talk to many

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  One of the projects we have undertaken is looking specifically at the experiences, attitudes, and motivation of non-state combatants, including especially the Mai Mai militia. We found a number of practices within armed groups that promote sexual violence against civilians. One i

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thank you for that very important comment and question. As someone coming from the research community, I would hesitate to speak on behalf of programmatic NGOs working in the area. Unfortunately, I think I should probably leave that question to the programmers who are doing work

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  While it's an important question, I would, once again, hesitate to comment on the motivations leading up to going to the American embassy. I apologize, but I think I'm going to stay within my area of expertise, which is the impact of sexual violence on survivors in Congo.