Berkley Center

Background

Sexual violence has been an endemic part of conflict for a very long time. Yet, until recently, we just had not listened to the voices of the people behind that pain. Some who did hear chose to ignore it with the hope of forgetting it. And many just did not think it was important. Not anymore. It is important to know that sexual violence is not exclusive to conflict; it just gets exacerbated during conflict. It has been and continues to be a reality for many vulnerable women and girls and some men and boys even in times of peace and perceived safety. 

It took the extensive brutality of rape against women and girls in the Bosnian war—a place closer to home for many the member nations at the UN Security Council—to unanimously pass the UN resolution 1820 in 2008, naming rape as a tactic of war and a threat to international security. Such a global commitment could have been an immediate game changer, but real change takes a long time. Here’s an example: to date, no nation has yet been charged with this crime, yet in conflicts even today monitors have found extensive use of rape against women and girls, men, and boys in places like Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, the Middle East, Burma, and Central African Republic. In these conflict zones, rape is used to terrorize, brutalize, and traumatize people; an act whose effects can last a lifetime. 

In 2013, William Hague leveraged the influence of the United Kingdom’s presidency of the G8 to ensure greater international attention and commitment to tackling the use of sexual violence in conflict. This was done through a clear political statement from the G8 of its determination to make real, tangible progress on the issue. On April 11 of that year, accompanied by Angelina Jolie and Zainab Hawa Bangura, special representative of the UN secretary-general on sexual violence in conflict, G8 foreign ministers adopted a historic Declaration on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict. To date 155 nations have signed the declaration, giving the movement some momentum and a real chance to begin to effect change. The declaration is action-oriented, ambitious, and expresses a shared commitment and determination to see an end to the use of rape and sexual violence as weapons of war. It has a clear focus on tackling impunity and accountability but also contains a set of wider political and practical commitments.

Listening to Survivors of Sexual Violence

It is impossible to miss, avoid, or ignore the devastation of women and girls when you work in the war torn communities in Bunia, Beni, and Goma in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. So much has been reported and analysed but rape continues to be an everyday—no—an every 1.5 minute reality here! People have suffered, coped with, and tolerated too much—so much so that in 2014, when Tearfund explored the understanding of the word ‘rape’ with women here, one said, “Sexual violence is when several men penetrate you, one after another without your permission.” Many women referred to gang rape as rape, since rape by one man was so common that it was not considered to have the same definition. They have been raped by men and boys, some even as young as their own grandchildren. Most women say they have accepted rape as an unavoidable consequence of war. They do not think much can be done to prevent it, but they wish they could find healing and comfort, especially in places of worship. 

War does brutal things to men, too. Tearfund’s discussions with men and boys across the Great Lakes region of Africa shows how their masculinities are threatened and challenged by war. The tumultuous nature of living through violence and uncertainty played across complex understanding of faith scriptures, cultures, and beliefs often allows and enables men and boys to do things they normally may not have done. Men and boys in war-affected communities often spoke about their own confusion and sense of conflict within themselves about what is right and permissible. They have perpetrated rape and felt both justified and guilty at the same time. It’s important to note that in some contexts, religious scriptures and teachings have reinforced the power of men over women.

We can also look at Liberia, where war ended in 1991, but the trauma and wounds continue to impact so many women there. In 2011, Tearfund began working with the women in Liberia to tell their stories, and many were overcome with grief, both because nearly half them had suffered rape during the war but also because they had carried that pain silently for 20 years. 

Survivors across the world mostly stay silent, living with the scars of their experience. Tearfund’s work with over 400 survivors across Sub-Saharan Africa has begun to enable women to break this silence, so that they can move toward healing and hopefully play a key role in bringing life and meaning to political resolutions and commitments.

What’s the Role of Faith?

In many places affected by conflict, local faith leaders wield an enviable sphere of influence across the hearts and minds of their people. In communities affected by poverty, their power is often greater as faith groups are often key service providers in many aspects of community life, especially education and health care. Often, they have access to political leadership, and they are also involved in speaking out and responding to crises. So when government systems collapse, which is common during war, places of faith become places of refuge. A recent example of this came in 2014 in the Central African Republic. When the threat of violence came, people ran into mosques and churches to hide and find safety. Places of worship were immediately transformed into refugee camps. These became the sites for humanitarian action. 

Tearfund’s summary report “Silent No More” expressed the voices of survivors and local communities across for countries affected by rape and conflict. While the contexts were different there was one common ask across the communities. Survivors everywhere had not received the care and compassion they hoped for from their faith leaders, but in spite of that their hope was for places of worship to become safe spaces for them to run to and find safety and support. The full potential of faith in preventing sexual violence is yet unrealized, but there is a lot of hope and expectation around the role of faith. Recognizing this potential, in 2011 Tearfund, in partnership with the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Anglican Church, launched a global faith leadership movement to end sexual violence called “We Will Speak Out” (WWSO). The expectation is that the silence can be broken when leaders speak out and that when stigma is replaced by care and support of the survivors, then things will change. There already are some key faith champions out there, leading the response, quietly, in their communities and countries; they are speaking out against rape and gender injustice, modeling transformed masculinities and leadership, standing in solidarity with survivors and advocating for change. 

His Grace, Archbishop Henri Isingoma of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is one such faith leader who is mobilizing other leaders in his country and beyond to model something different. The work of the Anglican Church in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been recognized and supported by the Prevention of Sexual Violence Initiative of the UK government. Church and other faith volunteers at grassroots communities have become a powerful work force, setting up community action groups to prevent sexual and gender-based violence and advocating for justice including getting perpetrators to account.

The key role of faith leaders is recognized by governments as well. At the Global Summit to end sexual violence in conflict, hosted by the UK government in 2014, the then-UK Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary William Hague expressed this in his concluding statement:

“We noted that good laws and international agreements in themselves are not enough if attitudes don’t change. In this respect, faith groups have a key role to play, including in their role providing care, treatment and support for survivors. Through their networks, they often have access and influence with local communities that no other actor has. As such, they are uniquely placed to change hearts and minds, and challenge cultural and social norms, including notions of masculine identity as it affects sexual violence. The Summit recognised the need to engage faith-based organisations as active partners in the fight against sexual violence, both in helping to formulate strategy and in providing front-line support to survivors.”

Sexual violence is a result of deep-rooted gender injustice in the melting pot of faith, culture, environment, etc. It, therefore, cannot be addressed without diving into the deep end where all intermingle. Faith leaders regularly explore the deep end on a range of issues which shape people's hearts and minds through generations, and they are essential to grassroots change.

What It Means to Work Together 

The HIV epidemic forced people of faith to reflect on deep-rooted issues and their own moral responsibility to respond to the most vulnerable with tremendous courage and determination. Indeed, activist faith came into the main stage in the response to HIV. Since then, policymakers and donors have recognized the importance of working with people and organisations of faith both because of their positive influence but also to prevent the potential for causing harm as expressed by the many survivors. The UK government has been leading the way in its work with faith leaders to end sexual violence in conflict. What started as a joint initiative during the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict in 2014 has now developed to become a more intentional and collaborative initiative. 

This was demonstrated at the recent interfaith event jointly hosted by WWSO and the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office in February 2015. The summit brought 40 faith leaders together to explore their particular potential to end sexual violence in their conflict-affected communities. The summit resulted in faith leaders launching a declaration expressing their commitment to preventing sexual violence in conflict and proposing key recommendations outlining the role of faith in:

• Defending values of faith and human rights
• Tackling impunity and promoting justice and accountability
• Supporting survivors
• Engaging men and boys
• Peace building and peace processes 

Faith cannot be ignored. Neither can it be pushed out or diminished. Faith leaders are standing together and speaking out in an essential step to bringing an end to sexual violence in conflict.