Gender Inequality and Social Institutions in the DRC

The analysis of the current context in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) makes obvious the existing persistent gender imbalance in all the domains of economical, social, cultural, and political development. Congolese women constitute 53% of the DRC population: their visibility and contribution to food security for the survival and running of Congolese society are undeniable and internationally recognized.

However, studies and recent investigations show that the position of Congolese women in several domains of national life remains to preoccupy low in comparison with men. Access of women to decision-making tables, as well as to national economical resources and production factors remains very limited. The situation has deteriorated in the latter years with the negative effects of wars in repetition, to the current persistent insecurity.

In fact, 61.2% of Congolese women live below the poverty threshold against 51.3% of men, while 44% of women cannot attain economical timeliness1, 2, and 4. Furthermore, in the DRC, the situation of gender-based violence; particularly domestic violence against women and young girls is very worrying. Collected national data on various forms of Violence Against Women (VAW) demonstrates how it strongly correlates with under-development (human, economic, social, and infrastructure). These statistics show how women are vulnerable, and they illustrate the numerous cases of abuse committed by men against women because of the dominant position conferred to men by society and the inferior status of women in the DRC.