UN Authority Figures

U.N. Commission on the Status of Women:
The Democratic Republic of Congo

Photo source: (CBS News) There have been more than 500 systematic rapes in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) since late July, it was reported in September 2010. (500 Rapes In DR Congo As The United Nations Watches)

Mission of the Commission on the Status of Women: "The Commission on the Status of Women...is a functional commission of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), dedicated exclusively to gender equality and advancement of women. It is the principal global policy-making body. Every year, representatives of Member States gather at United Nations Headquarters in New York to evaluate progress on gender equality, identify challenges, set global standards and formulate concrete policies to promote gender equality and advancement of women worldwide." (Commission on the Status of Women web-site, "Overview")

Term of office: 2011-2015 (elected April 28, 2010)

The Democratic Republic of Congo Record on Women's rights:
"...[R]ape was common throughout the country and especially pervasive in conflict areas in the east. [M]ore than 1,100 women and girls were raped each month...Government security forces, armed groups, and civilians perpetrated widespread and sometimes mass rape against women and girls...[M]embers of armed groups, the FARDC [Congolese Armed Forces], and the police were responsible for 81 percent of all reported cases of sexual violence in conflict zones...It was common for family members to pressure a rape victim to keep quiet...to safeguard the reputations of the victim and her family...After a sexual assault, many young women and girls were often labeled as unsuitable for marriage and married women were frequently abandoned by their husbands. Some families forced rape victims to marry the men who raped them or to forego prosecution in exchange for money or goods from the rapist." (US State Department's Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2009, DRC)