Across India, the heinous act of rape has been a constant factor in news bulletins. Post the Dec 16 gangrape, the country came together to agitate against this ghastly act.
At a time when sexual exploitation of women has been a raging debate subject be it the rape of Catholic nuns in Kerala, allegations levelled by Tanushree Dutta against Nana Patekar, a Padma Lakshmi story or a Brett Kavanaugh in the West, the Nobel Peace prize this year gives us reason to believe that now people will come out to fight against violation of women and help survivors with greater vigour.
He is called the miraculous ‘Doctor Miracle’ in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Denis Mukwege has championed the cause of fighting against sexual abuse of women in war. Known for his skill and will to treat appalling injuries inflicted on women in DRC, his much celebrated body of work has been part of an acclaimed 2015 film titled – “The Man Who Mends Women.”
At 63, he is father to five children. An outspoken critic of the abuse of women in war he has been of the view that the world has failed to act.
Being the co winner of the Nobel Peace Prize he has been repeatedly nominated for his work with gang rape victims from conflicts having ravaged his homeland. He has called for the global arena to take a tougher line on rape as a weapon of war.
He was quoted by AFP as saying “We have been able to draw a red line against chemical weapons, biological weapons and nuclear arms, today we must also draw a red line against rape as a weapon of war, describing it as a “cheap and efficient” form of terror which condemns its victims to “a life sentence”.
Source – From the web
It is his French autobiography, “Plaidoyer pour la vie” (“Plea for Life”) where Doctor Miracle recalls the horrors of such crimes that led him to set up the Panzi hospital in Bukavu.
Reportedly rapists had inserted a gun into a woman’s genitals and fired. His worst experience was when he treated 45 similar cases at one shot. A feeling he cannot forget till date.
For 20 long years the atrocities of women have been an inextricable part of his life. Mukwege had a close shave with death in October 2012, in which his guard was killed.
At the Bukavu hospital, which serves as a clinic for gynaecological and obstetric care, he lives under the permanent protection of UN peacekeepers.
The 450-bed Panzi hospital that Mukwege founded treats more than 3,500 women a year, though not all for sexual abuse.
Mukwege born on March 1, 1955, in Bukavu is the third of nine children. Inspired to become a doctor by his father, he studied medicine in Burundi and worked in Lemera hospital before pursuing specialist training in gynaecology in Angers, France.
Honoured by United Nations and having received several international awards, in September 2016, he also won the Seoul Peace Prize.
Appointed a professor at the Universite libre de Bruxelles in Belgium in 2015, he has won the Peace Prize with Nadia Murad, a member of the Yazidi minority who escaped from the clutches of sex slavery.
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