Fighting sexual violence in the army

Educating soldiers of Congo’s National Army that rape is a crime with devastating consequences for their victims, society and themselves.
Wherever war breaks out, men with guns rape. Nowhere in the world has sexual violence reached the scale and level of brutality than in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Congo’s National Army is the group most responsible for rape nationally. Until now there has been little education available to army personnel to confront them with the devastating consequences of rape for their victims, society as a whole as well as themselves.
After extensive research, the MCF developed films around six themes that confront soldiers with the consequences of rape through testimonies of victims, perpetrators and military and judicial experts. Following a showing of the film, discussions are facilitated by specially trained military officers. As of May 2011, a mobile cinema will travel to military camps to educate and hopefully change Congo’s soldiers’ beliefs, attitudes and actions.
This project is implemented in collaboration with Search for Common Ground and Kingdom of the Netherlands
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