The Haunting State of Women’s Rights in the DRC

The Democratic Republic of Congo has had a tumultuous, harrowing history. Despite being one of the most mineral-rich countries in the world, the DRC has endured nearly two centuries of brutal exploitation, with each change in control merely sustaining the cycle of oppression. In the beginning, it was called the Congo Free State by King Leopold II of Belgium who claimed the land as his in 1885, legalized by the assent of the powers present at the Berlin conference, and who mobilized, through incredibly dehumanizing means, an ivory (and then, an increasingly profitable rubber) trade with the West. He created a quota system with mortal consequences; hands and feet were cut off if daily quotas were not reached. This barbaric model would lead to the death of millions and leave millions of others without their limbs.