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View the PDF File: If We Could Hear & Read Their Stories: A Comparative Analysis of Perpetrator Patterns & Community Responses to Sexual Violence in Liberia & Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (opens in a new window)

Abstract: Submitted in partial fulfillment of the degree of Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Abstract: Sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict societies is a security, public health, and human rights issue, and an act of aggression against a nation or community. The prevalence and severity of sexual violence in Liberia and eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo as well as subsequent health and socio-economic consequences have fundamentally changed these societies. Protection strategies employed by the victims and community responses to sexual violence have helped shape these changes. Further, discriminatory legal and social dimensions, such as women's second-class status, can help create a context in which sexual violence perpetuates. While rape has been recognized as a war crime and a crime against humanity, little is known about the protection strategies adopted by victims and their communities and how these strategies impact society. The context in which the violence occurs, the protection strategies employed and community responses must be better understood in order to develop appropriate responses for: punishing perpetrators of sexual violence; protecting and caring for the victims; and reintegrating victims into communities, to provide healing and reconciliation.