This article concerns the unfolding COVID-19 pandemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It analyses the sanitary measures that the government has taken to respond to the pandemic since March 2020, the way these measures are enforced, and the extent to which women comply with the measures. The article draws from desk research and empirical data from the eastern city of Bukavu, where the research team conducted 134 structured interviews. The findings show widespread willingness to comply with some of the main measures because of fear of sanctions, fear of the pandemic and because of trust in the state or church. The article argues that many women hold the state accountable for the success in containing the virus, but also criticize the state for not providing livelihood assistance during the state of emergency. Further research is needed to assess the impact of COVID-19 on state legitimacy.

本文涉及刚果民主共和国正在发生的 COVID-19 大流行。它分析了政府自 2020 年 3 月以来为应对大流行采取的卫生措施、这些措施的执行方式以及女性遵守这些措施的程度。这篇文章借鉴了东部城市布卡武的案头研究和实证数据，研究团队在那里进行了 134 次结构化访谈。调查结果表明，由于害怕制裁、害怕大流行以及对国家或教会的信任，人们普遍愿意遵守一些主要措施。文章认为，许多女性认为国家对成功遏制病毒负有责任，但也批评国家在紧急状态期间没有提供生计援助。