More than 670 women, or 48 new victims per day, have been treated for sexual violence in displacement camps in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in the last two weeks, medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said on Tuesday. About 600,000 people are sheltering in the camps near Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, after fleeing rebel conflict in their home towns in the surrounding region. Most of the victims reported being assaulted when they left the camps to get food or wood, MSF said. Rape has been widely documented as a weapon of war used by armed groups in eastern Congo, where dozens of militias are active. Most of the recent displacement in North Kivu province has been caused by fighting between the Congolese army and the M23, an ethnic Tutsi-led rebel group.

Source: The North Africa Journal May 10, 2023 10:07 UTC