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13 pages, 253 KB

Open AccessArticle

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Dyadic Adjustment, Sexual Desire, and Couple Resilience 10 Years After the Experience of Rape by Survivors in the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo

by Cécilia Agino Foussiakda, Juvénal Bazilashe Balegamire, Gavray Claire, Yannick Mugumaarhahama and Adélaïde Blavier

Soc. Sci. 2025, 14(3), 131; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci14030131 - 22 Feb 2025

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 969

Abstract

The reintegration of survivors and their children born because of war rapes is a major issue in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. This study analyzed survivors’ posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the support received from their spouses, both in terms of their own well-being and that of their children. The PTSD form, DAS-16, Marital Support Survey, Sexual Desire Scale, and Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale tests were administered to 28 survivor couples and 32 control couples selected from the Kabamba cluster in Kabare, South Kivu. Over 70% of the respondents had PTSD scores above 34, required clinical assistance, and were not satisfied with their marital relationships. Based on survivors’ perceptions, the balance of marital support and the coherence of couple responses were negative. The survivors typically feel that they provide more support to their husbands than they receive. Unlike husbands, survivors presented low individual sexual desire and high dyadic sexual desire scores, while husbands’ dyadic desire decreased, and they no longer wished to have sexual relations with their partners. Rape survivors derive resilience from prayer and internal self-control, as they live in an environment in which war-related stress causes chronic trauma. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impact of Rape and Sexual Violence on the Relationships of Survivors)

14 pages, 301 KB

Open AccessArticle

Gender Differences, Trauma, and Resilience of Children Born of Rape, and Perception of Their Behavior by Parents and the Community in the East of the Democratic Republic of Congo

by Cécilia A. Foussiakda, Claire Gavray, Yannick Mugumaarhahama, Juvenal B. Balegamire and Adelaïde Blavier

Psych 2023, 5(4), 1156-1169; https://doi.org/10.3390/psych5040077 - 1 Nov 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 6063

Abstract

This study was conducted in the eastern DR Congo to analyze the trauma of children born of rape (CBOR), and their behavior as it is perceived by their parents and community. Twenty-four families of women rape survivors and twenty-seven control families were used. The Trauma Symptoms Checklist for Children, Child Behavior Checklist, and Child and Youth Resilience Measure tests were applied. In addition, a discussion group was conducted with community members. Comparatively to girls, boys born from rape are traumatized and have psychopathological concerns such as anxiety, depression, and summation, and high internalized and externalized behaviors compared to boys from control families. Furthermore, CBOR are aggressive and gather in gangs. Despite the suffering, both CBOR and their siblings increase their resilience over the years and derive it from their environment, especially in the absence of the father who has become a polygamist. Girls born of rape are more resilient than their siblings. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Anxiety Disorders: Psychology)

13 pages, 274 KB

Open AccessArticle

“I BROKE FREE” Youth Activism and the Search for Rights for Children Born of War in Bosnia

by Burcu Akan Ellis

Genealogy 2023, 7(4), 73; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy7040073 - 26 Sep 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3321

Abstract

The rise in recognition of children’s agency—that is, their status as inalienable right-bearing actors—has been a welcome change in international organizations, albeit often through a set of media activities that depict children variously as victims or beneficiaries of moral leadership. Typically, a handful of children/youth affected directly by a particular tragedy become the recognizable faces of identified human rights abuses. This research explores media representation of children born of war in Bosnia, “invisible” children who only recently were legally categorized as victims of war. As children who were born of wartime rape, the lives of select young activists have been documented through movies and media interviews since their childhood. This paper explores the costs of such disclosure and performativity, and sacrifices that young activists make to expose their “truth” to gain recognition of their attendant rights. It ultimately highlights the tension between the search for the rights of affected children and the dilemmas inherent in the actions of the few youth activists who publicly embrace the conditions of their birth to bring voice to others. Full article

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