It’s June 2014, the start of summer in London. The world’s attention is turned to an unlikely gathering – government leaders, activists, survivors and even Hollywood’s Angelina Jolie. But this was no glitzy red carpet event. It was the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict, the first large scale international effort to address a crisis long ignored. The summit brought global attention to the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and set out commitments to tackle sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV).
Over a decade later, the humanitarian crisis in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) remains a stark example of how global attention ebbs and flows, leaving women and girls to navigate the ongoing realities of war, displacement and impunity. Despite persistent violence in eastern DRC, particularly the resurgence of the M23 rebel group, discussions around sexual violence remain largely inconsistent and disconnected from the root causes of this crisis.
In honour of World Social Justice Day, we spoke with Dr Bilge Sahin, Assistant Professor in Conflict and Peace Studies, and Innocent Lubingo Mazombo, a Child Protection in Emergency Officer for Save the Children, to understand the complexities of justice, resilience and the lived realities of women and girl in conflict zones.
The cycle of visibility and silence
The world often hears about sexual violence in conflict, especially in the DRC, which has long carried the grim label of ‘the rape capital of the world.’ But this hypervisibility, argues Dr Sahin, has done little to change structural gender inequalities that make such violence possible in the first place.
‘Until the 1990s, sexual violence in war wasn’t even considered a crime. It was just seen as an unfortunate byproduct of conflict,’ she explains. ‘When the Rome Statute finally recognized it as a war crime, it became hypervisible, but often in a way that reduced the experiences of women and gender minorities to just sexual violence. Meanwhile, other interconnected issues – forced displacement, loss of livelihoods and lack of reproductive healthcare – were largely ignored.’
This cycle of attention and neglect continues today. Even though M23’s renewed offensive began in 2022, reports of rape and sexual violence by armed groups only recently re-entered international discussions.
‘Such cyclical visibility leads to ineffective solutions,’ she continues. ‘Interventions focus on short-term responses rather than addressing the gendered power structures that make sexual violence a persistent tool of war.’
For Innocent, who works with women and children on the ground, the human cost of this neglect is devastating.
‘The greatest challenges facing women and girls in conflict – rape, forced marriage and exploitation – are well documented,’ he says. ‘But what we often miss is that these violations are rarely isolated events. They are part of a larger system where the female body itself becomes a battlefield.’
Justice for survivors
International efforts to bring justice closer to survivors have largely revolved around mobile courts – a system where legal hearings are held in remote areas to prosecute cases of sexual violence.
‘In theory, mobile courts should increase access to justice,’ explains Dr Sahin. ‘Survivors don’t have to travel long distances to testify and trials can be conducted closer to affected communities.’
But the reality is much more complicated.
‘Mobile hearings are costly and often heavily reliant on international funding,’ she says. ‘Because donors have largely focused on sexual violence cases, other crimes – such as killings, forced displacement and economic exploitation – receive far less attention. And when international funding declines, even these mobile court initiatives disappear, leaving survivors without legal recourse.’
Even when convictions are secured, justice often remains an abstract concept for survivors.
‘I recall one survivor telling me that although her perpetrator was sent to jail, she still didn’t feel justice was served,’ she adds. ‘For her, justice meant being able to rebuild her life – having financial support, access to education and a way to sustain herself.’
This disconnect between legal justice and lived justice underscores the limitations of international interventions.
...For many survivors, justice is not just about punishment. It’s about reclaiming control over their lives, securing financial stability and ensuring their children’s futures.
Dr Bilge Sahin
A feminist lens on justice
What does justice truly mean for Congolese women? According to Dr Sahin, the answer is not as simple as court convictions and legal frameworks. Instead, justice must be holistic, responsive and rooted in survivors’ needs.
‘Too often, international actors impose their own ideas of what justice looks like – typically formal legal proceedings that punish perpetrators,’ she explains. ‘But for many survivors, justice is not just about punishment. It’s about reclaiming control over their lives, securing financial stability and ensuring their children’s futures.’
This is where grassroots feminist movements in the DRC play a crucial role. Local women’s groups, often overlooked by international agencies, provide survivors with economic opportunities, emotional support and alternative pathways to justice.
‘Women in conflict zones are not just victims,’ she emphasizes. ‘They are mediators, peacebuilders and advocates. They document human rights violations, negotiate with armed groups and work tirelessly to rebuild their communities.’
Resilience in war
Despite unimaginable hardship, women in eastern DRC continue to find ways to survive and support one another. Innocent shares stories of women who, even in displacement camps, are creating new livelihoods:
‘I met a woman in North Kivu who lost her husband in the war. Left alone with three children in a displacement camp, she found a way to start selling doughnuts. With the little she earns she feeds her family and keeps her children in a child-friendly space for safety. These are the kinds of resilience stories we rarely hear.’
He also recalls a young mother in South Kivu who endured rape, loss and separation from her children while fleeing conflict. 'Even after everything, she refused to give up,’ he says. ‘She continues to fight for herself and her children, proving that survival itself is a form of resistance.’
What social justice really means
On World Social Justice Day, the struggles of Congolese women offer a powerful lesson: ‘True justice is not just about punishing perpetrators; it’s about restoring dignity, ensuring economic stability, and addressing the root causes of conflict,’ says Dr Sahin. For Innocent, the takeaway is clear: ‘Women and girls must be at the center of decision-making - not just as beneficiaries of aid, but as the architects of their own futures.’
As the world reflects on social justice, the stories of women in the DRC remind us that justice is not a singular concept – it is a fight for survival, equity and recognition in a world that too often turns away.
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