Women in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have not attained a position of full equality with men, with their struggle continuing to this day. Although the Mobutu regime paid lip service to the important role of women in society, and although women enjoy some legal rights e.
The inferiority of women has always been embedded in the indigenous social system and reemphasized in the colonial era. The colonial-era status of African women in urban areas was low. Adult women were legitimate urban dwellers if they were wives, widows, or elderly.
Otherwise they were presumed to be femmes libres free women and were taxed as income-earning prostitutes , whether they were or not. The taxes they paid constituted the second largest source of tax revenue for Stanleyville.
The war situation has made the life of women more precarious. Violence against women seems to be perceived by large sectors of society to be normal. A phenomenon of 'pendulum displacement' has developed, where people hasten at night to safety. In December GuardianFilms posted a film on the Guardian newspaper website profiling a project to record the testimony of over women and girls who had been abused by marauding militia.
Besides war rape in Congo's civil wars , there are other serious threats to women's physical well-being in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Maternal mortality rates are high, as access to maternal healthcare is limited. The rate of new HIV infections among women ages 15β24 was four-times higher than that of men in the same demographic. Women are also less likely to have access to treatment than men. Under the penal code of the Democratic Republic of Congo DRC abortion is prohibited, but it is generally accepted that an abortion can be performed to save a woman's life.
