Congo/ Gender: Mervely Mbongo raises awareness of violence against girls

The campaign to raise awareness of violence against women, initiated by Mervely Mbongo, a student in private law and fundamental research at the Université Marien-Ngouabi, took place in private schools in arrondissements 6, Talangaï, and 5, Ouenzé, on the theme of "The role and place of girls in eliminating violence".

Student Mervely Mbongo informed schoolgirls from various private school complexes about forms of violence against women in the school, academic and domestic environments, including physical, moral, psychological and sexual violence. To raise awareness, she drew on the Mouebara law on combating violence against women in the Republic of Congo. Violence, she explained, has harmful consequences. It can disrupt the educational, social and psychological development of women.

Referring to the Unicef report, Mervely Mbongo noted that more than seven out of ten pupils in the Congo are subjected to violence in schools, neighborhoods and on social networks. Other statistics show that in 2020, eight out of ten girls and seven out of ten boys aged between 10 and 18 said they had been subjected to verbal or psychological violence in their schools, said Mervely Mbongo.

Speaking of her motivation, she said: "It's the sense of my commitment that has driven me to lead this campaign, because I see that violence against young girls and women in the Republic of Congo is becoming more and more recurrent. I believe that when it comes to violence, one voice is not enough. The more we talk about it, the more we'll be able to live in a society with zero violence, and each of us should get involved".

She also sees the campaign as a way of encouraging young girls to recognize that violence affects all women. "There are young girls who believe they are not concerned, whereas when we go through the Mouebara law, we realize that all categories of women are victims and unfortunately few young girls are not informed. It's also a way of getting them out of ignorance about the various forms of violence," explains Mervely Mbongo.

At the end of sixteen days of activism in Brazzaville's private schools to combat violence against young girls, Mervely Mbongo received encouragement and a positive response.

In addition to the Talangaï and Ouenzé schools, Mervely Mbongo intends to continue her fight in other schools in Brazzaville and the interior of Congo.

source: www.adiac-congo.com/