At the Outer Limits of the Positivism
In 2006, the parliament of the Democratic republic of Congo adopted at the initiative of non-governmental organisations a bill to criminalize acts of sexual violence and to protect victims. This important innovation that led to transpose into national law a number of crimes and sexual offenses as defined in international conventions yet encounters significant obstacles regarding the implementation of the provisions of the law. Beyond the political and practical difficulties faced by magistrates and police officers, the author advances the hypothesis that the primacy of customary rights and values in matters of family, marriage and engagement inhibits the acceptance of the bill by population and the judiciary. The author illustrates these points of friction through the issue of marriage and rape after presenting the challenges of the use of anthropology to the legal positivist.