Olivier SHUKURU and Patient MURHI, two students enrolled in the final year at the Faculty of Law of Université Catholique de Bukavu with a particular interest in issues related to sexual violence, have worked in pairs with two students from Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL) on a North-South dialogue project.

This project consists of an analysis of Congolese court decisions and aims to highlight the intercultural exchange. This collegial work is the fruit of a diversity of opinions reflected in the results of different student research. To facilitate the exchanges, the project favors face-to-face work by involving field actors. The UCL students visited Bukavu in September. A trip by UCB students to Belgium is planned in the coming days.

The research and daily reports of the visits are posted on this blog which was created in the Rosa Parks law clinic of Université Catholique de Louvain.

Our students motivated their interest in the issue by a bitter observation they made about the armed conflicts in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. For them, the armed conflicts being at the base of the repetitive wars have caused sexual violence, an issue that has become horrifying in view of the denomination of the world capital of rape.

Driven by the desire to produce quality work on such a crucial issue, the students set out to update the issues of sexual violence depending on realities and contexts.

During their field works with their UCL peers, under the guidance of Prof Trésor MAHESHE MUSOLE, SHUKURU and MURHI deplored the lack of interest and information on the issue of sexual violence. For them, this experience is a great opportunity because the issue of sexual violence alerts more than one person regardless of their background. It also allows them to go deeper into certain questions while creating a critical and collegial spirit.