Global Network of Victims and Survivors to End Wartime Sexual Violence
“Nothing about us, without us”
“Nothing about us, without us”
Initiated in 2017 by the Mukwege Foundation, SEMA is the Global Network of Victims and Survivors to End Wartime Sexual Violence. It gathers victims and survivors of wartime sexual violence from 27 countries, acting in solidarity, mobilising collectively and advocating for justice and change. SEMA means ‘speak out’ in Swahili.
SEMA members mobilise collectively to speak out about the realities of sexual violence in conflict and act in solidarity to bring an end to wartime sexual violence and impunity.
What Dr Denis Mukwege says about SEMA:
What Dr Denis Mukwege says about SEMA:
“When one survivor has the courage to break the silence and to stand up for her rights, she will inspire others to do the same. This is why it is so important to connect survivors so that they can strengthen each other’s healing and activism. The global survivor network chose the name SEMA, the Swahili word meaning ‘speak out’. The experience of being silenced and ignored was a common theme in survivors’ experiences – not only in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), but across the globe and through time. Breaking the silence was recognised as the first, crucial step towards reclaiming the rights denied to so many of them.
The work that these inspiring women are doing is not solely for themselves. Nor is it to seek revenge, or to point the finger of blame. Their purpose is for the world to know that survivors have rights that must be respected. It is to ensure that their daughters and granddaughters never have to go through the experiences that they have suffered.”