The Wounds of a State : The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Responsibility to Protect Women from Sexual Violence

The tension between the principle of state sovereignty and the enforcement of international humanitarian law in armed conflicts constitutes a pressing challenge within contemporary international law. This dilemma can be illustrated by the current non-international armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which has been ongoing for close to three decades and has brought critical questions of international humanitarian law to a head. During the persistent conflict, the civilian population has been heavily affected by violence – not least sexual violence, which has been systematically enacted against Congolese women. The widespread use of sexual violence in the State raises several questions. In this thesis, the protection of women from sexual violence within international humanitarian law is analyzed to determine which responsibilities States have to protect civilians from such violence. In this thesis, the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s adherence to its responsibilities under international humanitarian law is examined as a case study. The protection – or lack thereof – for women from acts of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is closely analyzed. Through analyzing the protection of civilian women, the responsibilities of States, and the application of international humanitarian law, legal gaps within the protection of women from sexual violence in non-international armed conflicts are identified and discussed. Recommendations on how civilian women can be protected from sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are also made in the thesis. By addressing these challenges, the thesis aims to contribute to the critical debate on how women’s rights can be protected in practice by States through the application of international humanitarian law.