RAPE AS A WEAPON IS WORSE THAN GUNS

The Eastern DRC is witnessing the most terrifying human violence each day – rape. During the past six years, Amnesty International reported about 40,000 cases of rape, but this number is probably much higher. Rape has become an epidemic in the eastern DRC. Sometimes, sexual violence committed against women in the DRC is fatal. All armed troops are guilty of rape. The women who survive this violence have psychological traumas that last their entire lives.

The rapes damage the women who survive these attacks the most, but the rapes also affect their husbands and families. Many women are abandoned by their husbands and families after being raped. Moreover, rapes introduce other problems. More than 30% of all rape victims contract HIV/AIDS in the DRC, and an unborn baby can contract the disease from his/her mother. Furthermore, between 50 - 60 % of combatants are infected with HIV, which spreads with every new incident of sexual violence committed. Someone needs to be held accountable for the atrocities being committed against the Congolese people.