The Power to Survive
Rosalie was a child soldier. She had no choice but to survive.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, this is all too common for women like Rosalie, who come face to face with adversity and have their agency stripped away. There is only one option left, to survive.
“I was in the battlefield with my baby on my back.” - Rosalie
Rosalie looks out from the deck of a passenger boat heading back to Bukavu after buying shoes from a market in Goma, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Credit: Arlette Bashizi/CAFOD
Rosalie sitting on a couch in her family home in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Credit: Arlette Bashizi/CAFOD
To be a woman in the DRC, is to feel vulnerable.
The concept of agency over one’s life in the DRC is not something considered to be an option when barriers like gender-based violence, limited access to education, and conflict are ongoing.
The concept of agency over one’s life in the DRC is not something considered to be an option when barriers like gender-based violence, limited access to education, and conflict are ongoing.
Rosalie and two other women undergoing skills training in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Credit: Arlette Bashizi/CAFOD
Rosalie’s lived experience.
Rosalie’s father passed when she was two years old, which meant her mother had little financial security and no means to afford schooling. Instead, Rosalie traded schoolbooks for a gun, becoming a child soldier at 15. The insidious gender-based violence and conflict soon followed.
Rosalie’s father passed when she was two years old, which meant her mother had little financial security and no means to afford schooling. Instead, Rosalie traded schoolbooks for a gun, becoming a child soldier at 15. The insidious gender-based violence and conflict soon followed.
SURVIVAL TAKES STRENGTH
Rosalie looks down to her hands in Democratic Republic of Congo. Credit: Arlette Bashizi/CAFOD
Gender-Based Violence
A staggering half of women report having experienced physical violence in the DRC, and almost a third have experienced sexual violence. Source: Worldbank.
Perpetrators mostly escape justice, and there is little support for survivors.
“No one showed respect towards me.” - Rosalie
Rosalie sits beside a tin wall looking up at two people exchanging a pair of shoes in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Credit: Arlette Bashizi/CAFOD
Education
Many children are unable to go to school due to barriers such as financial insecurity, gender limitations, and the threat of war.
Rosalie’s mother found it difficult to afford food and clothing, let alone school fees, so Rosalie dropped out of school.
“Many women in my community have had a similar life to me.” - Rosalie
Rosalie looks out from the deck of a passenger boat heading back to Bukavu after buying shoes from a market in Goma, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Credit: Arlette Bashizi/CAFOD
Conflict
Conflict in the DRC is ongoing. A staggering number of children are violated of their rights and used as child soldiers. Their childhood is taken away and replaced with experiences of insidious violence.
At the age of 15, Rosalie was forced into becoming a child soldier.
“In the army, I lived in extreme suffering.” - Rosalie
1 in 3 women
have experienced gender-based violence in their lifetime globally. Source: Worldbank.
Up to 52%
of women in DRC are survivors of domestic violence and 39% of Congolese women report having been threatened or injured. Source: Un Women.
Only 16.8%
of women have completed secondary school—about half of the rate of completion for men. Source: Worldbank.
