The Foreign Service Journal, April 2011

26 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / A P R I L 2 0 1 1 In North and South Kivu, the IRC provides medical, psychosocial and legal services to survivors of gender-based violence. The IRC works to reduce stigma against sur- vivors within communities and em- powers women with socioeconomic support. It works with more than 45 women’s groups to disseminate in- formation on the medical and psy- chosocial services available to survivors of sexual assault. The IRC treats from 350 to 400 survivors per month, 25 percent of whom are under the age of 18. And 75 to 85 percent of survivors report that their assailants are members of armed groups. More than 40,000 survivors have been assisted since the program’s beginning, and the IRC has built sustainable partnerships with seven national nongovernmental organ- izations and numerous community-based organizations. In 2010, more than 2,500 women were involved in economic empowerment activities. However, donor fatigue toward the crisis in the DRC is a concern. Aid donors are tempted to look for new, innovative solutions without allowing long-term solutions to play out. Assisting survivors, investing in partnerships and supporting multi- year, robust GBV programs that re- spond to the problem are a few of those key long-term solutions. Gender-based violence will not end until the govern- ment has the political will to rid the country of these atroc- ities, to restore fair and accountable institutions and to protect its population in all spheres of social life. The 8-year-old who was raped by the shepherd, only to have her case quickly dismissed, has a right to receive health and psychosocial services. She deserves to be heard, to see justice done against the perpetrator, and to maintain her dignity, rather than see it traded for a goat. n F O C U S The wealth being stolen from the DRC is not so much the minerals as the humanity and dignity of the survivors of gender-based violence.