Sexual Violence in the Congo

Spotted this mural on the wall of a U.N. peacekeeping force compound in Goma, North Kivu.

Sexual violence/rape as a military weapon is endemic in the D.R. Congo (and many other countries), where it is used to terrorize the civilian population, driving them into the bush, where they cannot be an aid to the other side, whoever that may be. New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof wrote last year: "The rape capital of the world is eastern Congo, where in some areas three-quarters of women have been raped. Sometimes the rapes are conducted with pointed sticks that leave the victims incontinent from internal injuries, and a former U.N. force commander there, Patrick Cammaert, says it is 'more dangerous to be a woman than to be a soldier'."

The United Nations reports tens of thousands of rapes in the eastern Congo every year, and in addition to the trauma of the violent act itself, victims must deal with an enormous social stigma, often being accused by family members of having encouraged/invited the attack. The Medecins Sans Frontieres Sexual Violence Centers I saw offer victims as much confidentiality as they can, but in small rural communities, little is truly confidential ...

More on sexual violence in another post, but in the meantime, an excellent feature on the subject by journalist Marcus Bleasdale is here: http://mediastorm.org/0022.htm