Posted on | November 23, 2009 | No Comments
Congo has experienced one of the worst humanitarian crises since World War II, and even though the war formally ended 6 years ago, fighting persists in Eastern Congo where women and girls are paying a particularly high price. Sexual violence is being used as a devastating weapon of war and the number of attacks on women and girls have grown threefold over last couple of years. MKFC Stockholm College is now teaming up with Dr Mukwege and the international network Yennenga Progress to bring trauma treatment to affected women and their families.
Since 1998, it is estimated that 200,000 women and girls have been raped in Eastern Congo, and the psychological trauma of these experiences on the affected women, as well as on their families, need to be professionally dealt with. However, the devastating effects of the violent conflict have resulted in weak infrastructure and national institutions not being able to deal with the urgent needs of the population. The justice system, for example, still barely functions. Thus, civil society plays a key role in the development of the country.
South Kivu province can be described as the epicenter of Congo’s rape epidemic – 27,000 sexual assaults were reported there in 2006. It is in this area that Dr Mukwege and his team are carrying out their crucial work, treating traumatized women who have suffered from sexual violence. The women affected – and their families – need not only basic health care, but specialized psychological treatment as well. Social workers, hospital personnel, and other officials need to be trained in order to meet the special needs of these individuals, without adding to the stigma and trauma. Dr Mukwege’s theoretical knowledge combined with his practical experience in the field, as well as the trust he has built up with the local population, are key factors in the success of his work. But there is an urgent need to expand the treatment to a larger number of people – the victims are spread over a big inaccessible geographical area and the established health care facilities in the urban areas are simply not sufficient to deal with all these cases.
MKFC Stockholm College is now working actively with a project initiated by Dr Mukwege, through the international network Yennenga Progress, to spread knowledge about the trauma therapy method to a large number of people in desperate need for help. The project is targeted specifically towards poor women in rural areas. Our role in the project is to develop e-learning courses that will be used to train local personnel who will work with trauma treatment in villages in Eastern Congo, as well as dealing with the pedagogical issues connected to ICT. In order to guarantee a psychological expertise, the Swedish CBT-institute in collaboration with the institute for crisis management at Uppsala University are also involved in the project.
This week, Dr Mukwege is visiting Stockholm to talk about his work and about the importance of good leadership. On Tuesday, he will speak at a breakfast seminar arranged by leadership consultants Svennerstål & Partners. To read more about the project, please click here.
Written by Fanny Johansson
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