by SOPHIE NEIMAN
Sophie Neiman reports from the Democratic Republic of Congo to shine a light on the neglected stories of women bearing the brunt of war.
The sharp sound of glass breaking under a rubber boot echoes over the rooftop like the crack of gunfire, as Thérèse Ndarubyariye leans forward in her chair. Her mouth is set in a thin, determined line and she speaks in a voice no louder than a whisper.
Ndarubyariye, who is using a pseudo-nym for her protection, is a soldier with the Alliance of Patriots for a Free and Sovereign Congo (APCLS), just one of the 120 armed groups battling in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). ‘I joined to protect my country,’ she says simply.
We meet on the roof of a rundown bar on the outskirts of Goma, the lakeside capital of the DRC’s North Kivu province and the region’s strategic and economic hub. It is a safe place to talk freely, she tells me. Other uniformed fighters with bullets strung across their chests and AK-47s slung on their backs admire the view, drinking beer and smoking cigarettes. Far below us, a line of people with yellow jerry cans waits to collect water from a pump. White land cruisers stamped with the insignia of international NGOs speed towards sprawling displacement camps, further along a potholed road that stretches from Goma to the frontlines north of the city. Ndarubyariye goes to battle there whenever she is called.
APCLS is part of the Wazalendo, a loose network of militias whose name means ‘patriots’ in Swahili. These government-aligned units fight against rebels from the March 23rd Movement (M23), who are in the midst of an insurgency in the DRC. Originally formed in 2012 by disgruntled members of formerly disbanded armed groups, M23 took its name from the date of failed peace agreements. The insurgents managed to capture Goma briefly that year, with support from neighbouring Rwanda and Uganda.
M23 surrendered a year later, following an offensive by the Congolese military, backed by a United Nations peacekeeping force. Fighters laid down their weapons or slipped over the border into Rwanda and Uganda.
But the same guerrillas resurfaced in late 2021. A series of attacks on farming villages have forced nearly two million civilians to flee their homes and take refuge in ramshackle tents on the outskirts of Goma and other small cities. M23 has been accused by Amnesty International of indiscriminately targeting civilians, while using high-tech weaponry such as drones and guided mortars.
Women have borne the brunt of this violence.
Some have taken up arms and joined the fighting themselves or been wounded by bombs and bullets. Others are caring for fellow displaced women raped in war. Still others have emerged as peace activists striving to build a better future for their homeland. Together, their experiences reveal the difficult decisions women must make in wartime and how, day by day, they are trying to break the DRC’s cycle of conflict.
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