Women in DRC are targets of assault, violence, and rape by FDLR and other similar armed groups allied to Kinshasa. Sexual violence is one of the favorite weapons of terror by the FDLR and other terrorist groups roaming around eastern DRC (not excluding the FARDC, the so-called Congolese national army!)
An average of 70 women and young girls are received for consultation per day, and around 2000 women are raped in a space of one month around Goma alone.
According to Médecins Sans Frontières Congo’s latest report, thousands of displaced women are raped every day.
Between July 31st to September 5th this year, in the areas of Rusayo, Shabindu, and Elohim, 1500 women (rape victims) sought medical help- a number that is said to be two and a half times over the previous months. Of these victims, 80% were received and treated in the past 72 hours of assault.
What is more perplexing is the loud silence of gynecologist Denis Mukwege, a 2018 Nobel prize winner for “his effort to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict” regarding the prevalent inhuman act in his country and domain.
When Mukwege’s advocacy, skills, and interventions are most needed by Congolese women today, it is when the gynecologist is dead silent and nowhere to be seen or heard. The Nobel Peace Prize award was ticked off Mukwege’s list, and off he went. And since his political ambitions are unpopular in DRC, saving lives is not convenient for the man “who repairs women” this time round.
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