Rebels Without a Cause?: Perpetrator Perspectives on Sexual Violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo

The level of sexual violence in the eastern DRC has received significant media attention. However, there is little knowledge on what is causing this violence. This book will contribute to this debate by offering different explanatory perspectives using secondary literature and primary data. It is argued that some of the sexual violence at the individual level seem to be directly linked to the poor socio-economic development in the DRC. This is in combination with gender perspectives that favour men over women. As soldiers in armed groups and in the army are often too poor to have a wife or a normal life, they re-establish their control by attacking other men's women and securing their livelihood by taking women as slaves. At the group level, sexual violence could be seen as a weapon to exert domination over a community or a group and securing land. At the macro level, being a security threat and committing severe human rights violations might be the only and easiest way to be a part of the bargaining table and obtaining power at the state level.