Protecting Communities in The DRC: Understanding Gender Dynamics and Empowering Women and Men
Protecting Communities in The DRC: Understanding Gender Dynamics and Empowering Women and Men
Protecting Communities in The DRC: Understanding Gender Dynamics and Empowering Women and Men
PROTECTING
COMMUNITIES IN
THE DRC
Understanding gender dynamics and
empowering women and men
Pauline (name has been changed to protect her identity), 16, with her 14-month old son at their home, pictured in
Dungu, Orientale Province, DRC. Many of IDPs now settled in Dungu, like Pauline, are traumatised from attacks on
their villages and families. Pauline was kidnapped by the LRA and spent two years as a 'wife' to an LRA soldier,
himself kidnapped aged 10. Simon Rawles/Oxfam
The conflict continues to stifle the countrys development, particularly standards of education
and health, the development of strong civil society groups, and gender equality. The average
life expectancy is 48 years for women and only 46 for men, and has barely changed since
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1990.
Weak state authority, the illegal exploitation of mineral wealth, and the ease with which
weapons enter the country has helped fuel cycles of violence, with women, men and children
caught in the crossfire. Civilians in eastern DRC in particular have been targeted by armed
militia. The long-term instability and insecurity has left virtually no industry and limited
opportunities for education and jobs. This provides an economic incentive for many young men
and boys to take up arms, although they are also often forcibly recruited.
Despite the government approving a progressive sexual violence law in 2006 that includes a
broad definition of sexual and gender-based violence, women and men are frequently subject to
sexual violence.
Women face many inequalities in the DRC. They play a very limited role in public life and
constantly confront deep-seated attitudes and beliefs that perpetuate discrimination and gender-
based violence. Following the 2006 elections, women accounted for only 9.4 per cent of seats in
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the national Parliament. The adult literacy rate (age 15 and over) is 65 per cent for the whole
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population, but 56 per cent for women compared with 78 per cent for men. Women are also
under-represented in paid employment and are often denied rights of inheritance. In 2011, the
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maternal mortality rate was 670 per 100,000 live births.
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Men and boys account for the majority of deaths that occur during fighting, while women and
girls may be more affected by the broader impact of conflict, including in the aftermath of war,
when repercussions are still being felt. In many societies, they will be made more vulnerable to
the negative effects of conflict due to their unequal status and limited access to services and
opportunities.
There are many similarities in how men and women assess their overall insecurity, but the
causes of insecurity and the type of threats they face abduction, murder, arbitrary arrest,
sexual violence, illegal checkpoints, forced labour are often different. Through these means,
state and non-state parties continue to manipulate and abuse civilians in order to assert their
control. The conflict is very fluid, and although some areas may become more stable, men and
women experience this change differently. Even in areas in close proximity, the short and long-
term impacts of violence and abuse on gender dynamics can vary widely.
A strong gender analysis can enable humanitarian responses to go further, and build on the
changes inherent in conflict and social transformation to bring about greater gains for womens
rights and gender equality.
Political and social transformation rarely happens without some form of conflict, and conflict in
itself is not necessarily negative until it turns to violence. Understanding how gender roles
interact with the context is key to contributing to positive change that is sustainable. Not
understanding this, or adopting a simplistic approach, risks doing significant harm. Humanitarian
organisations may be able to contribute significantly to positive outcomes that promote gender
equality by respectfully treating men and women as rights-holders as well as acknowledging the
threats of sexual and other violence that they face, and providing significant safe spaces for
women where they can be free from social constraints that prevent them from speaking in front
of men.
This paper outlines the approach to gender taken by Oxfams protection programme in the
DRC. It explains how the community-led nature of the programme has enabled women and men
to address short-term protection needs as a priority, but also to tackle long-term barriers to
womens rights without this being seen as a threat to men. It describes how the programme was
implemented, through protection committees with equal numbers of male and female members
and womens forums where women could talk freely among women, and promoting access to
referral services. It then presents the programmes achievements, including a reduction in
sexual violence, domestic violence, and early marriage in some communities. Men and women
worked together to change attitudes and beliefs and the programmes approach emphasised
sexual violence as everyones concern, not just a problem for women.
Finally, it makes recommendations for other programmes considering similar work. It argues
that Oxfams aim of putting poor womens rights at the heart of all we do is, in some situations,
only possible when we address mens rights in parallel.
The conflict has, however, significantly changed these traditional gender roles. Women report
that taking part in the various committees set up by NGOs has given them the opportunity to
participate in decision-making in their households and communities. Displacement towards
urban and peri-urban centres and nearer main roads, introduced new ideas to men and women
in previously relatively isolated communities. Perhaps more significantly, as men and women
adopt new survival strategies, some women have started to play a more leading role in the
family and community. In many cases, as employment opportunities and paid work have
become scarcer, men moving around have been more at risk of being accused of being in
militias. Women have started to play a more important role in providing for the household, often
through cultivation or small-scale trade. Although increased mobility can put women at risk, if
they are able to work and trade in a way that gives them economic power, this can increase
their decision-making power in the household. Womens associations and solidarity groups
have enabled women to develop more self-confidence. While the transformational impact of the
conflict and humanitarian response on gender relations has varied in each area, it has
frequently offered opportunities for women to participate further in the political, cultural and
economic life of their community.
However, this new role for women has, in many cases, been paralleled by a diminished sense
of self-worth among civilian men. Humanitarian interventions have primarily focused on
opportunities economic, social and political for women, without creating positive
opportunities for men, at a time when alternatives to participation in armed violence are needed
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more than ever, particularly for young, unemployed men. Violent conflict clearly affords certain
privileges, and values ideas of manhood that are associated with aggression, physical power
and violence ideals that devalue and belittle other, more positive models of manhood.
Conflicts in Africas Great Lakes Region have been the focus of some excellent and ground-
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breaking research on gender roles, and sexual and other gender-based violence. However, this
has not always translated into policy and practice. In narratives of sexual violence in the DRC,
women have been simplistically presented as victims and men as criminals or perpetrators of
abuse. This has overlooked the fact that men are also subject to sexual and other violence, and
denied other roles for women besides victimhood. These portrayals have had a negative
impact on community dynamics, creating conflict and hostile relations between some men and
women, and reinforcing the idea of militarised masculinity and other gender stereotypes that
perpetuate inequality. Mens sense of identity has also been altered and frequently undermined
Oxfam started conducting protection surveys in the DRC in 2007. The surveys collect general
information about how the conflict has affected people and what strategies they use to cope.
But they have also highlighted the inability of many communities to mobilise for their own
security, the difficulty of accessing authorities and officials, and the lack of information about
where to go for help when there is a problem.
Oxfam and its partner staff help conflict-affected communities identify the main threats they
face, and actions they can take to mitigate these threats. Staff facilitate links with local
authorities, and provide training to civilians and authorities on legal standards and laws relating
to protection issues. They map and assess local referral structures, particularly for medical and
psychosocial services; publicise this information; and try to find ways to improve relationships
between service providers and potential clients. It is planned that these activities will continue.
Protection committees
Protection committees are central to the programme, and as of mid-2012, 56 committees had
been set up. They respond to emergency needs in their communities but also link humanitarian
needs to longer-term development, supporting state actors and others with protection
obligations such as armed groups to fulfil their obligations. Interventions must be carefully
managed to ensure that emergency needs are met, without substituting for the state or
community more than necessary. Although the committees are not intended to be permanent
parallel structures, they may well evolve into some form of civil society group, maintaining the
role of interlocutor between the state and population, while also holding officials to account. The
training, information exchange with civil society groups and alliances, skills, experience, and
confidence that those associated with the committees develop will be sustained beyond the end
of the intervention.
Committee members are elected through community assemblies that select six men and six
women. Alongside these, a separate womens forum is established, made up of women who are
members of existing associations or groups such as choirs, parentteacher associations, or
community health workers again, to avoid creating parallel structures. Such groups are
essential because, if women are to be able to affect activities and protection committee
decisions, a separate forum at which they can discuss their needs and issues has to be
In this vast rural country with very little road infrastructure and limited mobile networks in many
areas, to ensure that the programme reaches a broad geographical area, community outreach
workers (agents du changement) or Change Agents are also recruited, usually 10 men and 10
women in each area. The structure of the programme, centred on the protection committee, is
designed to support women to prioritise their own issues (through the womens forums) without
excluding men and their needs, and while ensuring that the programme can reach locations that
are difficult to access.
The first step in any community is to collectively and inclusively identify the main protection
threats. This is done by the womens forums and agents du changement separately, who then
input into the protection committee. The protection problems identified by men and women, in
both mixed and single-sex groups, are sometimes the same, but there are also some notable
differences. Men often focus on immediate threats such as looting, the presence of armed
groups, arbitrary arrest, forced labour, and sexual violence, whereas women often cite looting,
sexual violence, and illegal taxes and checkpoints among the key immediate threats, but they
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are more likely to voice concerns about longer-term or strategic needs too. These include
inheritance rights (a key concern for women, who often do not know how to ensure that their
husbands land is inherited by their children rather than reclaimed by his family), domestic
violence, marriage registration (because prohibitively expensive registrations have resulted in
unregistered marriages and a consequent lack of rights when relationships breakdown), child
labour, and girls rights to education. Where men and women raise similar issues, this can
create a sense of shared ownership of the problem, and a base on which issues that are
specific to women or any other group that faces discrimination (e.g. displaced people) can
be jointly addressed.
All priorities put forward are discussed by members of the protection committee, who reach
agreement on what the problems are and identify actions to prevent and respond to specific
problems or abuses, such as the unlawful detention of children, or illegal checkpoints.
Having equal numbers of men and women on the protection committees and among agents du
changement is a symbolic nod towards gender equity, but risks being tokenistic if womens
participation is not meaningful. An internal review of the programmes implementation in May
2012 in more remote and insecure areas found that even formal parity was not achieved on
committees in those areas where womens and girls rights were most severely curtailed. Oxfam
is now considering how to respond to this situation. The separate space within the womens
forum allows them also to focus on their priorities and provides an opportunity for them to
express themselves more freely on matters that are important to them, but on which they are
rarely consulted.
Following an earlier external evaluation in April 2011, the programme increased its allocation of
resources to issues that women prioritise and created more space to work with women, while
ensuring that problems specific to or prioritised by men were included and that men remained
fully engaged with programme activities. As protection committees have been established in
different communities, it has initially been important to address issues that men and women feel
are the most pressing on which there is usually some consensus. As the programme has
become more established, and a level of trust and mutual respect has developed between the
committee members men and women and the partner organisation, there has generally
been more scope for addressing womens issues directly, as well as more structural issues.
Occasionally, the womens forums have invited men to present at meetings. This has been
particularly appreciated when, for example, men from the local authorities have been able to
answer questions on issues such as inheritance. Elsewhere, men have played a more active
role in womens groups, recognising that womens problems are not just for women but for the
whole community their priorities need to be addressed by both men and women.
Men and women involved in the protection programme jointly decide what they would like to
focus on. This offers men the opportunity to get involved with protection problems often seen
exclusively as womens issues, which was what one man in Beni territory described as the
main benefit of the project for him. It also shows men and women that women can be active in
areas more traditionally associated with men, such as negotiating with authorities and
representatives of the state. As one woman put it, We cannot wait for others to defend us. Our
security depends on us. At times, women have identified the protection of male family and
community members husbands, fathers, brothers and sons as their main priority when their
safety has been specifically threatened.
Referral pathways in the DRC tend to focus on sexual violence indeed, the term referral has
become synonymous with the medical, psychosocial and judicial support package promoted by
the government programme, and almost exclusively targeted at women and girl survivors of
sexual violence. Undoubtedly, there is a great need for these services. However, communities
cite many different types of abuse, often gendered, but not necessarily sexual. One committee
member pointed out that if a married couple were attacked, during which the wife were raped
and the husband tortured, it would make no sense to only help the wife get the care she
needed.
During discussions about whether protection committees should help survivors with transport to
life-saving medical services, committee members were adamant that the resources should be
used for men and women. Moreover, they felt frustrated that several NGO projects support
transport for women survivors, but very few for men. Statistics gathered as part of an internal
evaluation show that approximately 80 per cent of people benefiting from this support are
women, but a significant 20 per cent are men. Therefore, the inclusion of men has brought
about greater joint action on gender issues and more buy-in from men without losing sight of the
greater need for women and girls to access such services. The prevalence of sexual violence
against men and boys, which often forms part of what is reported as torture, means it is
There is a clear dissonance between the way people describe and experience acts of violence
and abuse and the way services are provided by humanitarian actors or prioritised by donors.
Rarely do the communities needing these services fit neatly into the pigeon holes created by
institutionalised checkboxes and categorisations such as rape victim. A woman who has been
raped may also be the mother of a child that has been abducted, and a wife whose husband
had been tortured each one dealing with the pain of seeing a loved one suffer as well as their
own pain. Thus, the open access of the referral system is a deliberate and conscious choice by
Oxfams programme in response to the way people have described their experience and
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support needs.
Programme impacts
The impacts of protection programmes are often hard to gauge due to the multiple factors
affecting the situation and the difficulty in identifying any form of causal chain. An external
evaluation of Oxfams DRC programme found that successes cited by committee members
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were not always recognised or agreed with by other community members; likewise, measuring
a concept as complex as empowerment which includes subjective feelings of self-worth and
confidence is never easy. However, feedback from communities, including statistical data, has
identified some tangible positive changes. It also suggests that the broader approach to gender
recognising the impact of conflict on men, and not just in an instrumental way to improve the
situation for women has brought about positive results, strengthening womens feelings of
security and empowerment that can contribute to achieving broader transformational change.
It is particularly difficult to assess the impact of this kind of programme on taboo and under-
reported issues for example, sexual violence (although fewer cases of reported rape might be
considered a positive indicator). However, evidence suggests that, as taboos are gradually
broken down, this may lead to more reporting of rape and other sexual violence. It is important
to emphasise that the situation in eastern DRC is very localised and there can be surprising
differences in communities that are relatively close to each other for example, because of the
presence of different armed groups in some areas and the different behaviours and strategies
people use to mitigate risks. In many locations, committee and some community members tell
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us that the number of rapes has gone down.
Despite the difficulty in assessing impact, an internal evaluation in 2012 found a reduction in
sexual violence in 6 of the 11 communities surveyed. In many locations, committee members
and other members of the community reported that the number of rapes had gone down.
Domestic violence had reduced in six communities and early marriage in two, while in eight
communities, gender relationships were felt to be more equal. Four communities reported an
increase in girls and womens enrolment in education. In one area, committee members carried
out an awareness-raising campaign that resulted in a reduction in instances of men rejecting
their wives because they had been raped, and greater understanding of the need for urgent
medical care. In one community, men reported providing shelter for displaced women who had
been raped and subsequently abandoned by their husbands. This change was attributed to men
and women working together to change attitudes and beliefs, and an approach that emphasises
sexual violence not as a problem for women, but for the whole community and therefore
everyones concern.
The protection committees, womens forums, and agents du changement have carried out
awareness-raising and training on a number of other issues relating to gender roles. Although it
is very difficult to measure, reports from committees and community members in Haut-Ul,
Province Orientale, imply that the project is having a positive effect on reducing intimate partner
violence. The same communities reported a reduction in drunkenness, which had been
identified by the womens forum in Beni territory as a key contributing factor in domestic
ACHIEVEMENTS
Oxfams protection programme in the DRC is not a gender or womens rights programme in
the traditional sense (i.e. it does not specifically aim to bring about changes in gender
relationships or womens rights), and while its protection objectives have primary goals
regarding womens participation and representation, it is not a programme that has primarily
focused on womens rights. Positive changes in relationships between women and men have
been an additional outcome. The programme has, however, taken a strong gender approach,
particularly upholding Oxfams aim to put poor womens rights at the heart of all we do.
Changes in attitudes and beliefs about gender roles are hard to assess and can take
considerable time. The programme has learned to celebrate small victories, while not over-
estimating its potential impact. Small victories can still be significant and life-changing at a
grassroots and individual level, when people are able to realise their rights. One older woman in
a community that had been isolated for a long time during the war told how the programme had
allowed her to sit down next to a man: Before, I could not speak in front of men. Now, we eat
together. Even when 10 men are seated together discussing, they are polite to me.
More generally, the approach seems to have had a positive impact on womens empowerment,
feelings of confidence and self-worth, and particularly their participation in community affairs:
The activities with the community protection committee taught us that women are equal to men.
What men can do, women can do. We saw that women can also be leaders. (Female
committee member in Cifunzi)
I got married very young. I didnt know that women could sit and talk to people the way that we
are doing right now. We had shadows in our eyes. But now we talk even to local authorities, and
even to the military.
Before, custom was considered to be above women, according to tradition. In some families,
women were not allowed to speak. But with the training that women have received through this
programme, they can go to the customary chief to lift some discriminatory practices against
women. (Female committee member in Kalega, displaced to Cifunzi)
Humanitarian actors often underestimate the social effects of their interventions, which can be
negative as well as positive. During recent research, men and women in eastern DRC reported
that one of the key benefits they have gained from taking part in training organised by the
programme is that they met different people. The social capital that is created during the training
will last beyond the programmes lifetime. Many of the respondents in the May 2012 evaluation
also cited an improvement in relations with local authorities as one of the programmes most
significant achievements. Citizens and duty-bearers alike reported this.
The type of analysis used in protection work is very effective when used properly in
identifying gender differences and analysing gender relations. The programme tackles serious
abuse and violence, but has not singled out violence against women and girls at the expense of
addressing other forms of violence affecting men and boys. Nonetheless, two-thirds of its
beneficiaries are women, and there have been tangible gains in womens representation,
leadership, political engagement at a local level, and the broader promotion of gender equality.
The programmes approach, which is, in essence, a rights-based approach that places
special emphasis on womens rights, means that each group of committee members
can join for reasons that are of personal interest and relevance to them. In this
approach, womens rights are not positioned as being in opposition to human rights but
rather as an integral component of them. Put another way, the men in the communities
do not feel threatened by the emphasis on womens rights but rather see womens
rights as contributing to their overall goal of civilian protection. Moreover, women also
feel engaged by issues that are specific to women but also note the importance of and
contribute to efforts that enhance mens protection and the protection of the entire
community.
The evaluation also highlighted the need to address the wider barriers to womens participation
and empowerment for instance, through facilitating greater access to literacy training, which
would link the intervention to longer-term programming. It also recommended an increase in
specific resourcing and support for womens forums, in particular through locally recruited
female resource people and exchange activities between communities.
CONCLUSIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
In conflict settings, Oxfams aim of putting poor womens rights at the heart of all we do means
taking a sophisticated, intelligent and context-specific approach to gender and womens rights.
When a humanitarian crisis occurs, agencies need to respond rapidly. But adopting a simplistic
attitude to womens participation without understanding complex local dynamics and the impact
of the proposed intervention on women and mens identity risks doing more harm than good, or
creating programmes with inevitably unsustainable impacts. In a situation where so many
Some recommendations:
All interventions should start with a gender analysis. This would ideally be part of the initial
needs assessment, based on discussions with a broad range of community representatives.
This should include a nuanced and sophisticated understanding of gender dynamics and go
beyond simplistic generalisations. Avoid preconceived ideas about gender, and listen.
Expect it to be complicated, gender relations often are. The gender analysis should consider
the different circumstances, impacts of the crisis, coping strategies, and resilience of men,
women, boys and girls. In most cases, gender inequality means that women and girls face
very specific threats and are particularly vulnerable. However, they are not a homogenous
group and certain people may be disproportionally affected or targeted if they are from an
ethnic minority group or are internally displaced or refugees. In conflict settings, groups that
would not normally be priorities for aid agencies such as fit and healthy young men may
be at high risk of violence and life-threatening danger, and their needs should be considered
as part of the response.
Data collection, information and analysis should be broken down by gender but also by other
significant factors such as ethnicity, age, tribal or political affiliation, and so on.
The gender analysis should help to establish whether the agency should or should not
directly target men or women. In some situations, targeting women directly may have
inadvertent negative consequences. In others, achieving goals linked to womens
empowerment and gender equality may be more likely if activities target men. Interventions
may target young men and boys directly for example, when they need assistance to avoid
forced recruitment into militias, or are at risk of banditry.
The issues that men face should be addressed at the same time as those affecting women.
Due to womens subordinate role in the household, they are unlikely to achieve any
sustainable gains if humanitarian interventions focus exclusively on issues affecting them at
the expense of those affecting men. Men, and possibly some women, will not take the NGO,
or the women involved in the project, seriously. In addition, this runs the risk of creating a
backlash or negative consequences for the women involved.
In many conflict situations, a very aggressive, militarised masculinity is promoted as an ideal,
and men who do not conform to this ideal may be at risk. Aid agencies can support men and
boys who are taking positive action to support their communities and who promote gender
equality and more positive ideals of manhood as a long-term goal.
Separate spaces should be established where women can come together and talk. It may be
an off-shoot of an existing community group such as a water committee or producers
association. It should not be prioritised over men, but should work with them.
We should think of the impact of our interventions in the long term as well as the short term.
It may be culturally inappropriate to target women directly in the short term, or they may lack
the confidence to take on leadership or representational roles at the outset. But over the
course of the project we should ensure that there are forums where womens voices can be
heard and they can take steps for their own empowerment. These should be negotiated with
men, and ultimately bring men and women together in more equal forums, supporting
womens access to local decision-makers. We may not achieve this over the lifetime of a
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This may be a result of the customary practice of condemning rape but resolving it through the, usually forced,
marriage of a survivor to their rapist. People have not necessarily perceived this as something wrong or abusive.
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The May 2012 evaluation received similar statements on drunkenness as a factor in domestic violence from
womens forums and protection committees in parts of South Kivu and Province Orientale as well.
This paper was written by Emma Fanning and Rachel Hastie. Oxfam acknowledges the assistance of
Robyn Baron, Carol Brady, Stephanie de Chassy, Tess Dico Young, Thomas Fuller, Claire Harvey, Ellie
Kemp, Ines Smyth, and Nigel Timmins.
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