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Democratic Republic of Congo: At Least 179 Women Gang-Raped in Raid

Monday, August 23, 2010

According to the United Nations (UN), 179 women were gang-raped by a rebel faction in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) over the course of just one weekend.

 

Although sexual violence is widespread in North Kivu, where the raid took place, UN officials noted the unusually high number of victims impacted by this particular raid. The cluster of villages where the attack took place is located 20 miles from a UN military base.   

 

The Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, a rebel group, is thought to be responsible for the attack. Last year, the governments of the DRC and Rwanda launched a UN-backed campaign against the rebel group.

 

Since 2009, the number of reported cases of rape in the DRC has increased precipitously.

 

Compiled from: Rwandan Rebels Raped at Least 179 Women in Congo, Humanitarian Officials Say, The New York Times, (23 August 2010).     

For More Information

For more information, please see the Sexual Assault, Women and Armed Conflict, and Violence Against the Girl Child sections of the website as well as the following What's New articles: DR Congo: Harvard Study Reveals More on Rape Crisis (21 April 2010), DR Congo: Withdrawl of UN Peacekeeper Forces Will Hurt the Fight Against Rape (20 April 2010), and United Nations: Rape is One of the World's Greatest Security Challenges (11 August 2010).  

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