DRC/M23 War: “I caught HIV AIDS for 5.000 FC or $1.8 in order to feed my children.”testimony of a war displaced woman confined in Buhimba

Mother of four children, Mwamini (not her real name) lost her husband, killed by M23 rebels in Masisi territory, North Kivu in Republic Democratic of Congo. Fleeing the war, she found herself with her four children in a camp for war displaced people in Buhimba, one of the outlying areas of Goma city.

To feed her children, Mwamini accepted five thousand Congolese francs or $1.8, offered to her by a man, apparently in good health, in exchange for sexual relations. From this man, Mwamini caught HIV AIDS and is today HIV positive beyond the ordeal she has experienced since she was displaced by war and widowed.

5.000 FC for sexual relations in order to feed his children…

Leading a difficult life in the war displaced persons camps, Mwamini became sexually involved with a man. She thus contracted HIV AIDS out of concern to feed her children.

“When we fled the war, my husband was killed by the M23 rebels. I found myself alone to provide for my children. A seemingly healthy man offered me five thousand Congolese francs for sex. After two days without eating, I accepted without hesitation and today I am sick, I take ARV medication ”,  she testifies.

This case is among many others in camps for war displaced people in the province of North Kivu, in Democratic Republic of Congo.

Abandoned to their sad fate, they indulge in so-called survival sex

Several women displaced by war in the North Kivu province in Democratic Republic of Congo find themselves forced to practice survival sex to meet their needs and those of their children.

The president of the Collective of Women’s Associations of North Kivu, Isabelle Pendeza, says that the empowerment of women is one of the responses to this challenge faced by women displaced by war: “we contented women to prevent..sexual violence and to denounce all forms of violence.We ask all partners and actors who intervene in the displaced persons camps to advocate for the empowerment of women displaced by war. If these women have income-generating activities, they will avoid exposing themselves.”

Women displaced by war in North Kivu, in DRC, are among the first victims of gender-based sexual violence in camps due to the precariousness of their socio-economic situation.

Rose Mathe