Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Dyadic Adjustment, Sexual Desire, and Couple Resilience 10 Years After the Experience of Rape by Survivors in the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo

The reintegration of survivors and their children born because of war rapes is a major issue in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. This study analyzed survivors’ posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the support received from their spouses, both in terms of their own well-being and that of their children. The PTSD form, DAS-16, Marital Support Survey, Sexual Desire Scale, and Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale tests were administered to 28 survivor couples and 32 control couples selected from the Kabamba cluster in Kabare, South Kivu. Over 70% of the respondents had PTSD scores above 34, required clinical assistance, and were not satisfied with their marital relationships. Based on survivors’ perceptions, the balance of marital support and the coherence of couple responses were negative. The survivors typically feel that they provide more support to their husbands than they receive. Unlike husbands, survivors presented low individual sexual desire and high dyadic sexual desire scores, while husbands’ dyadic desire decreased, and they no longer wished to have sexual relations with their partners. Rape survivors derive resilience from prayer and internal self-control, as they live in an environment in which war-related stress causes chronic trauma.