Gender Dynamics in Peace and Conflict: A Critical Study on Sexual Violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Abstract: The aim of this study is to critically explore the effects of pre-existing gender norms on the use of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and the normalization of such violence by examining the links between peacetime and wartime sexual violence. The analysis is based on a research overview that highlights aspects of gender, violence and conflict in the DRC, which are discussed within a feminist theoretical framework using concepts of gender inequalities and identities,hegemonic masculinity and violence as a continuum. The results suggest that unequal preexisting gender relations in the DRC have been further exacerbated and polarized in the conflict, noticeable in the normalization of sexual violence among soldiers and civilians. Thus, a continuum of sexual violence in- and outside the context of conflict can be distinguished, as it is possible to argue that structural violence enables impunity. This study concludes that an approach to tackle conflict-related sexual violence in the DRC needs to be multidimensional. Not only should it take into consideration the effects of the global political economy and the economic incentives behind the sexual violence in the conflict, but it also needs to incorporate the dynamics between femininity and masculinity, and challenge unequal underlying gender norms which enable the acceptance of violence and impunity.