Persistent, ‘Me Too’? Voices from the Past : An Analysis of Testimonials on Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in the Congo Free State (1885-1908)

• Main Author: Mbesherubusa Mittag, Danielle
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: Malmö universitet, Institutionen för konst, kultur och kommunikation (K3) 2021
• Subjects: Congo Free State; Sexual and Gender-Based Violence; SGBV; Humanitarianism; Colonialism; Female Voices; Communication Studies; Kommunikationsvetenskap
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-45698

This paper analyses (female) voices that reported sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) to the Commission of Inquiry of the Congo Free State between October 1904 and February 1905. Couldry's (2010) notion of "voice as value" is used to assess the possible contribution of these voices to the decade-long international humanitarian campaign that outsted King Leopold II from his personal colony. Document Analysis was performed on 21 witness accounts, including five female survivors and 16 African and European men who either corroborated or ruled out these women's statements. The analysis reveals one of the two main sites of violence to have been the home of the victim, a peculiar site of conflict-related SGBV even in the DRC today. Additionally, the study suggests a correlation between the geographical region of rubber exploitation and the area of concentration of SGBV - a finding which could signify germination of the 'world's capital of rape' to have started during the Leopoldian era and necessitates further examination. In answer to the inquiry's main question, results show that although voices denouncing SGBV remained unheard during the campaign, they did echo the main message carried by most if not all 300 or so Congolese men and women whose stories bear witness to brutalities that took place 120 years ago. The message they would have wanted reverberated worldwide is that ending the rubber regime was the only way out of their ordeal.