Social+Issues-Womens+Rights+Social-FA11

__Women Rights in the Democratic Republic of the Congo__

Women in the Congo aren't allowed to get an abortion. Women and girls of all ages, from old women to very young children, have been gang-raped, and in many cases their sexual organs have been mutilated. The victims number in the hundreds of thousands. But the world, for the most part, has remained indifferent to their suffering.

__Example Story:__ A girl, who's father that had been killed in an attack and her mother was raped, was abducted and raped by groups of soldiers over a two-week period and then abandoned.

__How it affects people around them:__ Rape and sexual torture have systematically destroyed communities and the dignity of its survivors, and has been an impediment to achieving peace and stability within the region.

__Quote:__ These women are raped in front of their husbands, in front of their children, in front of their parents, in front of their neighbors, said **Dr**. Denis Mukwege, a gynecologist who runs a hospital in Bukavu that treats only the women who have sustained the most severe injuries.

__Facts:__
 * In 2006, a total of 1,851 survivors presented to Panzi Hospital requesting care under the //Victims of Sexual Violence Program//.
 * For the purposes of this analysis, there were four major categories of sexual violence: 1) rape NOS; 2) gang rape; 3) sexual slavery; and 4) a combination of gang rape and sexual slavery

More than half (56%) of Rwanda's parliamentarians including the speaker of the parliament, are women. The women in political positions often don't find husbands. Not many men are interested in having them as a wife, possibly because they don't want a wife more powerful in society than themselves. Women in Rwanda also have a lot of jobs in security such as police and army. Women have the right to own their own land/property. When th ey get married, women m a y keep their belongings to themselves instead of sharing them with their husbands. They are also allowed to divorce, and the right to keep things away from their husbands have caused a lot of divorces.Issues such as domestic violence are still a problem. Especially when a women has more money than her husband, conflicts arise. We still have this issue in America too, just for different reasons. This goes back to the point that not many women politicians get married. Laws have been passed that husbands must share their wealth equally with their wives. Some men find this unfair, but it is another rule helping toward equality in men and women. Law officials recognize rape as a serious offense, and perpetrators will face large jail sentences. There is even a free police hot-line for people to report rape. Contraception has been made available in many places, and not just rape victims need/use them. Women who don't want to have any more kids have the right to choose birth control, whether their husbands approve or not. Those women can come secretly for tri-monthly shots to prevent pregnancy. Traditional activities are not just for women or men anymore either. Even drumming, which men are known for not only in Rwanda but all over Africa, is now acceptable for women. Rwanda's foreign minister wants people to know that the women in the government including herself aren't just there for show, that they actually have a say in what goes on. Modern Rwanda is very women friendly, and they don't face very much opposition. Fathers are encouraging their daughters to pursue engineering instead of nursing, it sounds out of the ordinary, but it is a big deal for an African father to tell his daughter to work towards a male dominated field, instead of what a woman would typically be looking forward to doing. Looking at Rwanda and its efforts in towards equality for men and women, and women's rights, they are doing very well. You wouldn't assume that a country with such a rough past would be looking at such a bright future for their women, but they are. Rwanda is ranked 38th in the world for women's rights, and they seem to deserve that number. Hopefully they can further improve the life of their women, and Congo can take notice of their efforts and work to improve their rank of 162 on a national scale of women's rights.