Immaculée Birhaheka (born 1960) is a
human rights activist
A human rights defender or human rights activist is a person who, individually or with others, acts to promote or protect human rights. They can be journalists, environmentalists, whistleblowers, trade unionists, lawyers, teachers, housing campai ...
from
Democratic Republic of Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...
. She is co-founder and president of the
women's rights
Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...
organization Promotion et Appui aux Initiatives Feminines (PAIF) which works to combat
sexual violence
Sexual violence is any harmful or unwanted Human sexual activity, sexual act, an attempt to obtain a sexual act through violence or coercion, or an act directed against a person's sexuality without their consent, by any individual regardless of ...
and increase the participation of women in
civic life.
Early life and education
Birhaheka was born in a rural part of
South Kivu
South Kivu (; ) is one of Provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 26 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Its capital city, capital is Bukavu. Located within the East African Rift's western branch Albertine Rift, it is ...
in 1960. She studied
rural development
Rural development is the process of improving the quality of life, quality of life and economic well-being of people living in rural areas, often relatively isolated and sparsely populated areas. Often, rural regions have experienced rural povert ...
as a college student in
Bukavu
Bukavu is a city in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), lying at the extreme south-western edge of Lake Kivu, west of Cyangugu in Rwanda, and separated from it by the outlet of the Ruzizi River. It is the capital of the South Kivu P ...
. Her interest in improving the lives of women first began while working on a
nutrition
Nutrition is the biochemistry, biochemical and physiology, physiological process by which an organism uses food and water to support its life. The intake of these substances provides organisms with nutrients (divided into Macronutrient, macro- ...
study looking at the types of labor done by rural women. This area of study would become the subject of her college thesis.
After witnessing the marginalization of women in Congolese society, both in the rural communities she studied and in her own experiences of higher education, Birhaheka began speaking up in favor of women's rights.
Career
Birhaheka began working for an
NGO
A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...
after completing her university studies. She was hired to work on gender issues as part of their women's department, but encountered the same
patriarchal
Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of authority are primarily held by men. The term ''patriarchy'' is used both in anthropology to describe a family or clan controlled by the father or eldest male or group of males, and in fem ...
culture within the organization itself.
After working on behalf of several other NGOs, and becoming frustrated with the way women were universally sidelined, she and her colleagues decided to create a new NGO to focus specifically on women and women's rights.
They founded PAIF, or Promotion et Appui aux Initiatives Feminines (Promotion and Support of Women's Initiatives) in
Goma
Goma is a city in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the North Kivu, North Kivu Province; it is located on the northern shore of Lake Kivu and shares borders with the Bukumu Chiefdo ...
in 1992.
The initial mission of PAIF was to improve women's status in public life: to stop women from being relegated to housework and the home, and instead educate them and facilitate their participation in
politics
Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...
, the
law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...
, and
human rights
Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...
causes.
They began by working on
water supply systems, to allow girls who would otherwise have to fetch water in the mornings to attend school. PAIF also worked to educate both men and women in rural communities about women's rights, using
radio stations
Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio signal, audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a lan ...
to promote "the inclusion of women as a development strategy".
PAIF later broadened its mission to include advocacy on behalf of victims of sexual violence. In the aftermath of the
Rwandan genocide
The Rwandan genocide, also known as the genocide against the Tutsi, occurred from 7 April to 19 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. Over a span of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Gre ...
in 1994, as conflict escalated in the region, Birhaheka became aware of the prevalence of victims of
wartime sexual violence
Wartime sexual violence is rape or other forms of sexual violence committed by combatants during an armed conflict, war, or military occupation often as War looting, spoils of war, but sometimes, particularly in ethnic conflict, the phenomen ...
among the displaced persons she was working with.
She worked to raise awareness of
rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person ...
as a tactic of war, and to support survivors.
PAIF began to provide legal and medical support, especially for those who have been disowned by their families, and to operate a safe house in Goma.
The organization also advocated for greater enforcement and prosecution of rape as a crime.
In 2006 PAIF successfully campaigned for reform in the DRC's laws pertaining to rape, including increased penalties for perpetrators.
Amid ongoing violence in the region, Birhaheka and PAIF continue to raise awareness of issues like sexual exploitation of minors.
Because of her work on behalf of women and survivors of sexual violence, Birhaheka received death threats from within the government and from militia groups. She was detained twice by the Congolese Intelligence Service.
Awards
Immaculée Birhaheka was a recipient of the 2000
Martin Ennals Award
The Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, sometimes called "the Nobel Prize for human rights", is an annual prize for human rights defenders. It was created in 1993 to honour and protect individuals around the world who demonstrate except ...
for human rights defenders.
She received the 2006 Democracy Award from the
National Endowment for Democracy
The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) is a quasi-autonomous non-governmental organization in the United States founded in 1983 with the stated aim of advancing democracy worldwide and counter communism, communist influence abroad, by prom ...
(NED).
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Birhaheka, Immaculee
Democratic Republic of the Congo women activists
Democratic Republic of the Congo human rights activists
Democratic Republic of the Congo women's rights activists
1960 births
Living people
21st-century Democratic Republic of the Congo people