Bertha, one victim too many

Her name was Nsengiyumva and her first name was Bertha. Aged about fifteen years, Bertha died on January 29, 2023 in the Kasika neighborhood in the city of Goma. She died in the prime of her life. Bertha was a domestic servant, a job she already did when she was a minor. She was placed in a household, where she suffered permanent physical and moral torture. Bertha died unhappily. That day her body could not bear the torments. She died, she and her youthful hopes. She and her will to be a support for her family back in the village. She and her dreams of perhaps being the future of this country. She and her love for her family.

Since the creation of AGIR DRC, one of our main concerns has been the defense and promotion of the rights of domestic workers. This is because they are one of the most marginalized groups and the least protected by the law. For almost two years, we have been accompanying the Union des Femmes Domestiques du Congo (UFEDOC). During this time, we have documented many cases of domestic workers' rights violations and abuse by their employers. We can mention among others: rape, sexual aggression and harassment, forced marriages, physical torture, deprivation of wages,... Among the domestic workers, we also count several children who are not old enough to work but who do so, often pushed by their parents, exasperated by poverty. But often they are treated as slaves and their future is darkened by the adult chores that life imposes on them and the violence they suffer. Bertha is one of the hundreds who were bruised and who could not resist this cruelty of violence. She died in the serious hands of her boss. According to the neighborhood, torture was a culture for her. The worst thing is that nobody dared to denounce it, because here the abuse of domestic workers is commonplace, sometimes normalized.

For more than a year, together with UFEDOC, we have been lobbying for specific legislation to protect domestic workers, as the statistics on violence against them are extremely shocking. This legislation includes the ratification of existing international treaties on the subject, in this case Convention 189 on the protection of domestic workers.

Today, the justice system has already taken up the case of the murder of young Bertha. We plead today for justice to be done, for the law to be said. However, it is true that justice will only be done for Bertha when thousands of other domestic workers in the Democratic Republic of Congo will feel protected by the nation through the respect of their rights, and will see themselves protected from inhuman treatment. Bertha's murder is a wake-up call that it is high time for the entire community to mobilize for the respect of the rights of this important category of workers. Join us in demanding justice for Bertha and for all domestic workers forgotten in the darkness of the caves of violence. It is time for the law to protect them, it is time for the conventions protecting domestic workers to be ratified in the DRC. In this way, thousands of Bertha will have been saved, and Bertha's soul can finally rest in peace!

Farewell Bertha!