The horror of sexual violence in conflict must be challenged by educating women about their human rights and empowering men and boys as champions against such abuses, says leading women's rights activist Dr Denis Mukwege.
The horror of sexual violence in conflict must be challenged by educating women about their human rights and empowering men and boys as champions against such abuses.
The comments were made by one of the world鈥檚 foremost women鈥檚 rights activists during a presentation at the 糖心探花 in London.
Dr Denis Mukwege, a leading surgeon, gynaecologist and women鈥檚 rights activist, added that the battle against sexual violence must also include men and boys if we wish to see a turning of the tide.
He said, 鈥淲e should not be complacent because we do not have open and violent conflict in a country. What we should be doing during those times of peace is ensuring that we effectively promote and protect the human rights of women.
Dr Mukwege, who has helped to care for more than 50,000 survivors of sexual violence since 1999, added, 鈥淚n my experience we can鈥檛 really overcome or succeed to fight against sexual violence if we don鈥檛 engage on this issue early. And we need to focus strongly on the education of men and boys, raising their awareness and understanding that we are all equal and that we should respect each other.鈥
The presentation formed part of the 糖心探花鈥檚 鈥楢 conversation with鈥︹ human rights series. It was the latest event to take place during the 鈥16 days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence鈥 leading up to International Human Rights Day on 10 December.
Head of Human Rights at the 糖心探花, Karen McKenzie, said, 鈥淚 am both humbled and deeply moved by the brutal and harrowing experiences which Dr Mukwege has shared with us. He is known globally as the doctor 鈥榳ho mends women鈥 and who has made it his life鈥檚 work to aid the reconstruction and healing process of thousands of women whose bodies will forever carry the scars of war.
鈥淭hrough his work, his experiences and the expertise he has developed, he is a treasure trove of lessons which have been learnt and good practices which ought to be replicated. I saw many synergies with our work on another form of violence against women, that of child, early and forced marriage.
She added, 鈥淒r Mukwege鈥檚 experiences in working on the prevention pillar includes educating men and boys, mobilising traditional leaders, and placing survivors at the centre of these efforts. On this we speak the same language, since we are utilising networks of traditional leaders, young men and survivors, for example in Malawi who are carrying out excellent work with limited resources as part of the Commonwealth Network Against Child Marriage.鈥
