300 women are being liberated from survival sex

Facilitator for Mabinti Amkeni Project (Young Girls, Wake Up)

Give $350 to put one woman through counseling, vocational training, and a business start package.

Dear friends of Africa New Day, 

Today, I want to share about a facet of life in the DRC that’s hard to talk about. But despite the difficulty of this reality, Africa New Day is making significant progress on the ground, one woman and her family at a time. And you can help expand Africa New Day’s impact in a measurable way. 

The subject of this blog post is the plight of displaced women in the DRC and how many women and girls resort to survival sex to put food on the table for themselves and their children.

We’ve been shining light on the challenges of individuals working in cobalt mines. Today we want to bring light to the women having to participate in survival sex, who have no other option to keep existing from day to day. Africa New Day is working hard to create new options for these precious women. We’re giving women a space to share without judgment, providing counseling services, and then training them in a skill so they have another way to make money. But more on that in a moment. 

Facilitator for Mabinti Amkeni Project (Young Girls, Wake Up)

WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE A WOMAN IN THE DRC

As with everything we share about the Democratic Republic of Congo—it’s complicated. There is a long-standing history of war, sexual and domestic violence, political unrest, and people being displaced from their homes. Many of the women have been through unimaginable abuse and assaults. 

According to womenpeacesecurity.org,  

“Limited humanitarian assistance and livelihood opportunities have pushed many women and girls to resort to survival sex, and have also led to increased rates of child marriage, with UN sources estimating that 37% of girls in DRC are forcibly married before age 18. Sexual violence remains rampant, and healthcare services for survivors, including sexual and reproductive health care… are severely lacking for internally displaced persons (IDP) communities.” 

 One source even reported that Eastern DRC specifically is the most dangerous place in the world for women and children. 

To outline it briefly, one or multiple of the following reasons lead women and girls into survival sex: 

Conflict and instability: Millions of women (est. 7.2 million people total) have lost their homes and livelihoods due to ongoing violence from rebel groups like M23. Survival sex becomes a means to access basic necessities like food, shelter, and safety. 

Economic Hardship and Poverty: Many women, especially those who are single or widowed, resort to prostitution as a last resort to support themselves and their families. 

Lack of Education and Employment Opportunities: Traditional gender roles, early marriage, and pregnancies often prevent girls from completing their education. Without education, women have fewer opportunities for gainful employment.

Sexual Violence and Exploitation: Sexual violence has been widely used as a weapon of war in the DRC, leaving many women traumatized. Survivors of sexual violence often find it difficult to reintegrate into society and may be forced into prostitution to survive. 

Corruption and Weak Governance: Corruption and weak governance mean that resources meant to help the vulnerable often do not reach them, and perpetrators of exploitation frequently go unpunished, perpetuating the cycle of abuse. 

BUT THERE IS HOPE…

Despite the overwhelming social and political obstacles that drive this problem, Africa New Day is helping women break free from the cycle of survival sex, one woman at a time. Recently, Africa New Day (called Un Jour Nouveau in the DRC) used financial support from the Netherlands to host two experience-sharing workshops as a part of the Mabinti Amkeni Project (Young Girls, Wake Up).  

Each workshop hosted 100 women and girls, one in Goma and one in Mugunga. These workshops enabled the women and girls to express themselves freely. Our team was able to gather data to better understand the causes of their presence in brothels and how to get them out of the devastating business of survival sex. The following phase of the project teaches these women and girls a trade, so they have another means of finding income. 

In one of these workshops, 59 women received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of their lives, and along with their new skills, they have a greater source of hope for their future. 

The workshops were so successful that Africa New Day plans to run this initiative again.  

$350 CHANGES THE TRAJECTORY OF ONE WOMAN’S LIFE (WITH AN IMPACT FOR GENERATIONS TO COME) 

We know all non-profits use language like this, and often it’s genuine. But we want you to know that your donation of $350 truly paves the way for one woman to be freed from survival sex by giving her counseling and helping her learn a trade. Although this is a heavy subject, there is hope, and women in the DRC are finding freedom despite continuing tensions and struggles in the country.  

Thank you so much for reading. Please consider contributing to this cause using the button below.