OUR MISSION EXPLAINED IN 5 STEPS
Our goal is to help find solution based action in the fight against crime.
Through our experienced forensic DNA experts and key opinion leaders, we offer the data and policy information needed to make DNA database strategy decisions in the following ways:
PODCAST SERIES
Vanessa Lynch, Regional Director of DNAforAfrica as she talks about the mission behind DNAforAfrica and her thoughts on how Africa can benefit from using DNA and DNA Databases to solve crime and assist victims of crime and GBV.
PODCAST SERIES
Vanessa Lynch, Regional Director of DNAforAfrica as she talks about the mission behind DNAforAfrica and her thoughts on how Africa can benefit from using DNA and DNA Databases to solve crime and assist victims of crime and GBV.
PODCAST SERIES
Vanessa Lynch, Regional Director of DNAforAfrica as she talks about the mission behind DNAforAfrica and her thoughts on how Africa can benefit from using DNA and DNA Databases to solve crime and assist victims of crime and GBV.
Central Africa is a region in the center of Africa that stretches across the equator and partly along the Atlantic Ocean.
According to the United Nations classification of geographical regions, Central African or Middle African countries are:
CENTRAL AFRICA
CHALLENGE / LOBBY WORK / STRATEGY
Rates of sexual violence in DRC are alarming. Though reliable data is scarce, a comprehensive 2011 study places the figure between 1.69 and 1.8 million women having been raped in their lifetimes. As is the case globally, survivors of sexual violence often do not report or seek services. Of those who do seek services, it is estimated that 75% in DRC decline reporting their assaults to police. This number is likely higher in conflict settings, such as in Eastern DRC where illicit mining of conflict minerals has funded armed groups that commit widespread human rights abuses, including mass rape. Infrastructure challenges exacerbate the hardships survivors face. Decades of underfunding and neglect of the government healthcare sector and ongoing conflict in Eastern DRC has reduced access to medical care, generally.
Organizations such as the Panzi Foundation and HEAL Africa provide comprehensive care in Goma, Bukavu, Kinshasa, and in rural clinics. This includes medical care, psychosocial support, legal assistance, and social reintegration. Panzi alone has treated over 68,000 survivors in Eastern DRC since it was established in 1999. Despite the Tshisekedi administration’s “Tolérance zero” initiative, health services and post-rape care in DRC are virtually nonexistent. Lack of infrastructure also affects the ability for survivors to seek justice—there is no working forensic DNA lab in DRC, and the use of forensic DNA evidence has only been successfully used in cases in which an NGO partner provided direct material and logistical support.
REGION
FACTS
Crime is a direct result of continued political instability and extreme poverty. When coupled with poor infrastructure, the relatively poor standard of policing, ethnic/religious conflict, and a weak education system, there are few licit economic opportunities for the country’s citizens. Many individuals turn to criminal gangs and rebel groups to earn a living.
Affluent CAR citizens are also often the targets of violent crime. Sexual assault and domestic violence are widespread.
In the DRC, research showed that more than a third of survivors of sexual violence studied were rejected by their families and communities after disclosure.
"Each of these countries has an unmet need for both trauma-informed care and DNA evidence collection"
