A Really Really Nice Pair of Pants – Talking About Rape in the DRC

Congo SFCG police training

By Tanya Castle

When men are asked in Congo why women are raped, there are two main responses:

1. the war
2. they dress “badly,” a.k.a provocatively.

There is no doubt that the two official wars fought in Congo during the 1990s and into the 2000s, raged not only on the sprawling terrain of the country, but also against the bodies of women. Although these wars have officially come to an end conflicts continue in the Eastern part of the country, and women’s bodies once again provide the battlefield. So yes, the conflict in the East or the “war” does play a part in rapes but dressing provocatively, I’m not so sure.

It is certain that all of these women who continue to be raped do not dress “badly.” I’ve been in Congo a month now and have traveled to villages affected by rape by combatants and I have not seen one woman wearing anything remotely provocative. Alarmingly though, rape by civilians is climbing and many justify their actions using “dress” as motivation. This justification is often shared and accepted by police officers. I saw this firsthand at a training session on Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV). 

 A police officer raised his hand and told his fellow officer who was leading the training, a member of the unit dedicated to SGBV, that dressing badly was a cause for rape. I knew if one officer had this opinion others did too. Fortunately this is not the attitude of all officers, which I also saw at the same training. 

The man leading the training had previously been trained by the Mobile Cinema Unit on how to use the film Breaking the Silence as a tool for sensitizing others on SGBV. He asked the other officers if it was true—that dress incited rape. Before they could respond, Leon, the head trainer for Search, answered this officer by posing a question. 

“Sir, what do you do when you are in a store and you see a pair of pants that you really really like, a pair of pants that you want but can’t have because they are too expensive?” 

The officer responded, “I leave them because I can’t afford them.” 

Leon asked, “Why don’t you just take them, as you want them because they’re nice looking?” 

“Well, I can’t because it’s stealing if I take them, it’s against the law,” he responded. 

Leon then said, “Well how is that different from seeing a woman that is dressed in a way that makes you want her?” 

It could not have been clearer. There is absolutely no difference. 

Several officers added to Leon’s reasoning. One stated before colonialism women dressed in little skirts and went bare-chested and there was not rape of this scale. Another talked about her experience during the war fleeing into the forest when her village was under attack with other women who were dressed in nothing more than underwear and they were not raped. Of the 30 in the room, I do believe that everyone left in the end understanding that dressing “badly” is not a reason for rape. Hopefully, this change in attitude will spread to the wider population.