Denis Mukwege Quotes

« Ce ne sont pas seulement les auteurs de violences qui sont responsables de leurs crimes, mais aussi ceux qui choisissent de détourner le regard. »

Indeed, research by Congolese physician Denis Mukwege et al. (2010) implies that to divinely sanctify the rape of the invaded country’s females is likely to be very adaptive in terms of group selection. Rape, they argue, is a way of asserting dominance not just over the females, but, by extension, over their fathers, brothers, male cousins and, in many ways, all males on the opposing side. It destroys their morale and undermines their confidence, because the conquerors assert dominance and control over the central resource for future existence, namely the wombs of the women of those whom they are conquering. Based on an analysis of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mukwege et al. (2010) aver that rape can be a quite deliberate war strategy, because it creates deep trauma and insecurity among the victims and their networks, helping to undermine their ability to defend themselves. It may, therefore, be no coincidence that the original meaning of ‘rape’ was to ‘pillage’ or ‘steal.’ Only in the early 15th century did ‘rape’ come to refer to the abduction and sexual violation of a woman.