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45 • Women’s Bodies as a Battleground: Sexual Violence Against Women and Girls During the War in the Democratic Republic of Congo7The Motives of the Soldiers and Militiamen Involved inRape and Sexual ViolenceThis chapter attempts to decode and gain an understanding of the reasons behind the sexualviolence committed by members of the various armed forces involved in the war in the DRC.What drives them to indulge in these particularly barbaric acts of sexual violence and abuseagainst Congolese women and girls?It is clear that these acts of violence are linked to the persistence of unequal gender relationsand particularly to the way women’s bodies are regarded. War exacerbates this inequality ofpower relations because the general security crisis places women in an even weaker and morevulnerable position. However, there are also other reasons, no less important, of a political,socio-economic and psychological nature. This chapter endeavours to identify and analysethese reasons, mainly on the basis of the data gathered from the 492 women and 50 RCDsoldiers and Maï Maï militiamen who took part in the survey.Given the small number of combatants interviewed, the authors took the decision to basetheir analysis on the perceptions, interpretation and understanding of the womeninterviewed regarding the sexual violence and torture they had experienced. The reasons forthe violence are thus presented in this chapter from the viewpoint of the victims.The few RCD soldiers and Maï Maï militiamen interviewed did provide some explanationsregarding the motives of their respective armed forces. However, these piecemeal testimoniesdo not make the issue any more understandable in all its aspects and complexity. To havegained a real understanding it would have been necessary to interview members of all theprincipal armed groups active on Congolese soil – that is, as well as the Maï Maï and theRCD troops, the Interahamwe, FDD, FNL, Banyamulenge, the national armies of Rwandaand Burundi – and above all, representatives of the high command of these forces.Unfortunately, the research team’s repeated attempts to contact all the parties involved wereunsuccessful. This aspect of the research would be worth investigating further.7.1 The viewpoint and perceptions of the victims and of thosemembers of armed groups who were interviewedThe women’s own interpretations, confirmed by the comments of the soldiers and Maï Maïfighters who were interviewed, demonstrate the multiplicity and diversity of the motives ofthose responsible for the rapes and sexual violence. It seems clear that a broad range offactors – political, ideological, psychological and socio-cultural – is at the root of these actsof extreme violence.7.1.1 The lack of organisational structure, training and discipline among thefighting forcesEighty-three per cent of the women interviewed gave structural reasons as one of the mainfactors behind the perpetration of sexual violence. In their opinion, these acts are a result ofthe disorganisation and predatory nature of most of the armies and militias active in SouthKivu, as well as the lack of discipline among the combatants.