Snapshots of the Stories of Survivors Who Broke the Silence

From Vday Vmail
ZAMUDA
54 years old. 5 militias Tutsi's and Mai Mai. I was naked in front of my kids. Her husband and children were killed in front of her. They beat her legs. She will never forget the feeling of the rifle inside her vagina. She has no kids to take care of her when she is old.

FRANCIE
On main road. Industrial school. Selling something, Carrying a bag of soybeans. With my best friend. I live near airport. It was 7pm. Two men jumped me. I was with a friend. She could run faster cause she wasn't carrying anything. They started screaming at me. Stopped me and told me to take off my clothes or we will kill you. They raped me. I got pregnant. Don't know which one of their babies it is. My wedding was supposed to happen in October. When my dad heard I was raped, he said instead of giving back the dowry, they should kill me. I ran away. I thought of getting an abortion. I kept the baby. Named her Joyeuese.

NADO
I don't want to give my name. My community doesn't know what happened to me. I won't give the name of my rapist if I do, they will bring him to the police, He will get out and rape me again. I was 10 and a half when I was raped. It was an old man. He took me and tied with ropes. He put a stick in my mouth. I stopped coming to school. I am an orphan. I was raped in a house a second time. Rape was something I did not expect,. It comes in my dreams.

LUMO
The soldiers came and told 5 women to come with them. Two of them had babies. 2 mothers asked questions and were killed on the way. One bullet went through a mother and her baby. By the time they got to forest there were only 2 women, Lumo and her friend. Brought them in the forest. Men from the country. Interahamwe. They caught her looking at them and they started to beat her. They were afraid of being identified. 50 of them raped her and her friend. She lost her mind. Began at 2:30 and went on till 7pm. They shoved grass in my mouth and tied me with my clothes. After I couldn't walk. They used my clothes and dragged me on the ground. The next day a hunter found me. I was hospitalized for three years. I have fistula from the rapes. I still after 9 operations have fistula. I was going to be married. My husband left me after the rapes. He got his dowry back. My friend ended up dying.

MARTA
Men threw her to ground, She banged her head. She fought one off. The other soldier accused the soldier of being a girl. He raped her and picked up her baby. She was sure he was going to throw the baby against a wall. He threw baby on bed. Then they set the house on fire. Locked her in the house while it was burning Her brother let her out. She went back for the baby and was burned from head to toe. She ran and jumped in the lake which was a very bad idea. The baby died three days later.
I had no value until I came here. People were afraid of me. They thought I was a monster. Then they changed when they heard my story,

VALENTINO
Seven months pregnant when she was raped .He was hitting my hips telling me to move the way I move when I make love to my husband. I felt something coming out.
Husband left me after even though he watched her being raped. They had a gun to his head and he was on his knees. The next day he accused me of liking it. Left me with five kinds, kicked us out of the house. My family left me.

JANET
When I hear a boom, I am terrified. The pain they felt when they took my leg over my head as they raped me. They leg was lose and they were pulling it. I was screaming the pain was so great. I had 2 surgeries-nothing they could do. Head of the thigh bone was gone,. I will be on crutches for the rest of my life.
"I've always been courageous. Always will be courageous. If the military want to kill me for telling my story, I am ready to die."

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For more information on the Stop Raping Our Greatest Recourse: Power To The Women and Girls of the DRC Campaign please visit www.vday.org/drcongo