Treating Sexual Violence as a Business? Reflections on National and International Responses to Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Abstract : This chapter aims to question the ways in which sexual and gender-based violence have been framed in international discourse and policy and thus to examine some of the causes of the perceived failure of international responses to this violence. Methodology : The chapter is based on qualitative research carried out through key informant interviews and focus groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Findings : The research highlights the ways in which limited understandings of sexual and gender-based violence lead to interventions which have unintended and sometimes negative consequences for gender relations in the DRC. Social implications : The chapter calls on researchers, policy makers, and aid practitioners to rethink their approaches to tackling sexual and gender-based violence and to incorporate these into a more coherent overall approach to gender inequality.