Here in the DRC, the number of street children is on the rise.
DRC street children have become destitute in the real sense of the word, as they have no shelter on their heads and have no one to provide them with plates of food for survival.
I am certain the reason for this is that many of them have been victims of the political and social environment of their respective communities over periods of time.
By Mugisho Theophile, Executive Director of Safe World Field Partner, COFAPRI:
“In an exchange with COFAPRI women, we learned a lot reasons why abused women often experience poverty: because of men’s violence in the home.
Abused women bear their moral, spiritual and material wounds, so they are helpless to overcome husbands’ abuse. This is often caused by the patriarchal motivation of men who yearn domination over women in society and in their home.”
In DR Congo, traditional leaders are exclusively men.
Traditional leaders existed in the Congo since long ago, with colonialism, after the independence, and even today, they still exist.
“In Congolese society, there exists an old set of rules called the Family Code that subordinates women by requiring them to obey and submit totally to the husband….”
COFAPRI co-founder, Bahati Valérie, discusses the issue of status with women and youth of DR Congo.
By Safe World’s DR Congo correspondent, Mugisho Theophile:
South Kivu, in the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, has experienced a lot of troubles due to the consecutive wars that have torn apart the DRC.
The consequences of these wars were blind; they affected almost every person and thing in the province in one way or another.
In particular, most of the victims were women and girls who were raped, mutilated, tortured, and even killed.
But we need to understand the reasons for such a social plague of violence in the context of South Kivu.
Rich men, though married, sexually spoil young girls who are as young as their granddaughters.
If you visit some snack bars and nightclubs where rich people often spend their evening’s leisure sipping on glasses of beer, you can hear them repeating their motto:
“ I have money, I can get as many girls as I want; they need money, so I give it to them and they give me sex”.
This is what sugar daddies believe in.
