Chief Superintendent Françoise is one of the pioneers in the fight against sexual violence in DRC; She got involved in the fight against sexual violence in 2000 following the armed conflict in the east of the country.
She took the initiative to put into place informal protection units for children and women, victims of sexual violence in the province of Nord Kivu. She organised the first coordination mechanisms to fight against sexual violence in the province of Nord Kivu in 2005 by putting in place a synergy for state services and national NGOs to work together at a joint response to sexual violence. This has been undertaken with the support of the GBV project funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). As a police officer at the time, she put together a team of police officers capable of ensuring survivors were listened to and legal cases were compiled and brought against the perpetrators.
The relocation to Kinshasa in 2007 was an opportunity for Chief Superintendent Françoise to strengthen her plea for the fight against sexual violence within the National Congolese Police. In regards to this, it has also benefited from UNFPA capacity building support and actively participated in high level advocacy actions with senior officers from the National Congolese Police Force and the Armed Forces, resulting in the Forces’ commitment to fight sexual violence.
Based on this achievement, Chief Superintendent Françoise was appointed advisor and gender focal point for sexual violence to the Inspector General of the Congolese National Police; This function allows her to work with the technical and financial partners to develop an action plan for the police force for the fight against sexual violence, as well as training modules for police officers for the fight against GBV. She has contributed to the capacity development of members of the police and supported the establishment of six special units for the fight against sexual violence and the protection of children within the provincial police forces in areas of humanitarian crisis. These units mainly existed in the east of the country to provide a crisis response in an informal way/manner.
The recent change of the institutional framework governing the security sector, characterised by the reform of the police, was an opportunity for the Chief Superintendent Françoise to maintain the actions undertaken in emergency situations; As a result, she worked in close collaboration with the Police Reform Commission to integrate the children and women’s protection
