Five Year HHI-Oxfam Study Reveals Shocking Pattern of Rape in Eastern Congo

An in-depth report commissioned by Oxfam America and carried out by HHI suggests surprising patterns about the persistence of rape in the DRC. "Now, the world is without me" analyzes data from female rape survivors who were treated in Panzi Hospital in the South Kivu Province of the Democratic Republic of Congo.  

The analysis revealed an alarming 1733% increase in civilian perpetrators of rape from 2004-2008, indicating a startling trend toward "civilian adoption of rape." The report also found that over 60% of women treated for sexual violence at Panzi Hospital were gang raped, with many reporting periods of sexual slavery sometimes lasting several years. Over half of the women report being raped in their homes, but the study also found high rates of rape in fields and the forest.

The findings from this report have already received extensive coverage from international media. To view a listing of articles and commentaries about the study, please see the publications and press section below, or click here.

To view the report, click here.


HHI holds its annual disaster simulation

With over 100 participants and volunteers, HHI and the Feinstein International Center's annual disaster simulation held April 23-25 had the greatest number of participants in the program's history. As in other years, the simulation was held in the Harold Parker State Forest in North Andover, MA, and set out to recreate the Chad-Sudan border crisis. The educational exercise allowed aid-workers-in-training to create detailed service delivery plans for Darfurian refugees, including plans for transportation routes, sanitation facilities, and medical services. The tasks were completed under an increasingly intensifying security situation with military checkpoints, Janjaweed attacks, and security evacuations modeled after actual events along the Chad-Sudan border. At the end of the three days, students' plans were evaluated by their professors.

To read more about the Humanitarian Studies Initiative, now in its eighth year, click here.


Government ministries and national media attend HHI Conference in Bukavu, DRC

Over fifty participants from roughly fifteen organizations attended a conference held in eastern DRC this past month to hear Justin Kabanga, the Director of the Centre d'Assistance Médico-Psychosociale (CAMP), and Jocelyn Kelly, HHI's Gender-based Violence Research Coordinator, speak about research on rape in the Congo. The Conference boasted attendees from the DRC's government including individuals from the Ministry of Health, Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of Justice and the Governor's Office. In addition, national media chose to cover the event. After the presentation, the group split up into multi-disciplinary break out sessions where participants discussed how best to translate HHI's research into more effective programming.


HHI launches a blog for Faculty & Fellows to share thoughts, experiences, and to hear from the public

HHI's new blog will give students and the greater public a chance to interact with  faculty, staff and researchers about their research, humanitarian projects, and experiences in the field. 

 

Jocelyn Kelly, who is currently in eastern Congo conducting research, has used the blog to post the first part of a three part series on Economics in the Margin. Read about how one woman, "Mama Prefect," has learned to survive and support her family despite the ongoing conflict in eastern Congo.