Perineal, Psychological and Well-beeing Consequences of Conflict-related Sexual Violence Among Women Living in Democratic Republic of Congo

The project to collaborate with the DRC is initiated from an ambition of the pelvic-perineal rehabilitation unit of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (Faculty of Medicine, University of Kinshasa) to change the situation in relation to women and to be able to offer adequate care for this population. The project is part of collaboration with two investigators: Professor Miangindula (Université de Kinshasa, UNIKIN) in DRC and Professor Bertuit (HESAV-HES-SO) in Lausanne (Switzerland). Four partners will take part in the project enabling a competent and strong team: Professor Feipel and Professor Foucart (Université Libre de Bruxelles, ULB) in Brussels (Belgium), Doctor Abdulcadir (Hôpital Universitaire de Genève, HUG) and Professor Mukwege in Bukavu (DRC). This project pursues two objectives: firstly, to assess clinical data of pelvic floor dysfunction (pelvic floor muscle function and urinary, sexual, gynaecological, and anal function) and psychological level in women victims of CRSV compared to women not victims of CRSV in the DRC. Secondly, to investigate the current care modalities and to analyse their needs (access to care, community integration, physiotherapy, etc.) and to understand the global context of care in DRC. The project will contribute to scientific capacity building by involving two PhD students in this research. A mixed method research will include a quantitative design, an observational study in a sample of women victims of CRSV (n = 371) and a control group of women not victims of CRSV (n = 371). Outcomes on urinary, sexual, gynaecological, anorectal and psychological aspects will be collected. This study includes a qualitative study with a phenomenological approach. Individual semi-structured interviews will be conducted with women victims of CRSV (n=10). Interview topics will be complemented with quantitative data and will lead to the following themes: experiences of CRSV, consequences of CRSV on body image, and modalities and needs for caring of these consequences. Two focus groups including eight medical health professionals will complete the qualitative data collection. The project will be realized over three years in the most affected provinces of the DRC: South and North Kivu. The method for cross-referencing data will be the Sequential Explanatory Method described by Creswell (2013).