National Coordinator of the National Movement of Survivors of Rape and Sexual Violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Tatiana MUKANIRE BANDALIRE is a human rights and women’s rights defender. She lives in Kavumu, a village located in the Kabare territory, in the South Kivu province, in the East of the DRC. A victim of rape used as a weapon of war in her country in 2004, she turned her experience into action. She claims to have moved from the status of victim to that of a woman leader and agent of change in the community. In 2017, she co-founded the National Movement of Survivors of Rape and Sexual Violence, a network that brings together survivors of sexual violence and allows them to receive the necessary assistance for their reconstruction after rape. This is done by setting up activities such as medical referrals, psychosocial support, legal and judicial support, socio-economic reintegration, as well as advocacy for victims to obtain justice and reparation. Today, the National Movement of Survivors of Sexual Violence in the DRC is present in the provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu, Kasai-Central, Tshopo, Ituri, Haut-Katanga, and Tanganyika, provinces that, for several decades, have been and still are, for some, the scene of several atrocities, including sexual violence used as a weapon of war. This network of survivors now has more than 5000 members, including some men. Since its creation in 2017, the Movement of Survivors of the DRC has been very active in denouncing the persistence of rape in the DRC and its massive use as a weapon of war. In November 2021, she published Beyond Our Tears with Editions des femmes Antoinette Fouque, in Paris. In this book prefaced by Dr. Denis MUKWEGE, Nobel Peace Prize laureate 2018, she shares her testimony as a victim of sexual violence and her experience of the war that has been raging in her country for decades. This came after writing a letter to her rapist in 2016, a powerful text that inspired many other survivors to break the silence. In 2023, she was awarded the Anne-Marie Buhoro Prize, a prize given to her by the International Network of Victims and Survivors of Serious Human Rights Violations (INOVAS). This prize rewards the work of actors who stand out in the fight against sexual violence and all other forms of violence against women in the African Great Lakes region, the Middle East, and North Africa. Long before, in 2021, Tatiana was among the 10 finalists for the Women Peace Building Award. An initiative of the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), this award honors the work of women peacebuilders who make a significant contribution in their country or region to end violence and prevent, mitigate, and resolve conflicts. Very active in advocating for victims of sexual violence to obtain justice and reparation, Tatiana has, for years, been involved in the establishment of a National Reparations Fund for victims of sexual violence in the DRC. Working alongside other survivors, she has been very active in the advocacy that led to the creation of the Global Survivors Fund (GSF) and the National Reparations Fund for Victims of Conflict-Related Sexual Violence and Victims of Crimes Against Peace and Security of Humanity (FONAREV). For several years, she served on the steering committee of the interim reparations pilot project set up by the GSF and the Panzi Foundation. This project provided approximately 1000 survivors of sexual violence living in the provinces of South Kivu and Kasai-Central with financial reparations, medical care, psychosocial support, and the construction of community centers in several villages in the DRC. She sits on the board of directors of FONAREV, where she represents victims of sexual violence. This came after serving for several months on the ad hoc commission set up by the Congolese Presidency. The commission’s work led to the drafting, adoption by the Congolese Parliament, and promulgation by the President of the Republic of Law No. 22/065 of December 26, 2022, establishing the fundamental principles relating to the protection and reparation of victims of conflict-related sexual violence and victims of crimes against peace and security of humanity. Tatiana also sits on the board of directors of Stand Speak Rise Up, the foundation created by the Duchess of Luxembourg, which implements numerous programs supporting the care and reintegration of victims of sexual violence. Beyond that, she is a member of the SEMA Network, a global network of survivors of sexual violence. This commitment allows her to participate in several advocacy activities for victims of sexual violence and to provide training and capacity-building sessions to other survivors in countries such as Iraq, the Central African Republic, etc., to enable them to organize themselves in turn and set up effective victim networks in their respective countries.
