By Angela Atabo
Save the Children (SCI) on Thursday said women and children fleeing deadly violence in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) , are faced with gruesome sexual attacks and genital mutilation by armed men using tree branches, guns, and knives.
A statement by SCI said that Psychologists working with SCI’s local partners in displacement camps in North Kivu documented mass events of sexual violence against children as young as nine.
The statement said that survivors faced with unwanted pregnancies, health complications, stigma, and suicidal thoughts were treated by teams nearly every day.
The statement added that the majority of sexual violence cases in North Kivu were happening when survivors were fleeing the escalating fighting between the DRC army, the M23, and many other armed groups, and this has forced more than 250,000 people, including about 130,000 children, from their homes.
Some clinical team who shared their experiences said ,“What pains me the most is the seriousness of the atrocities being committed.
“Some survivors tell us several men raped them at the same time, and objects were used on them, such as knives, tree branches, and guns.
” Others have been raped on numerous occasions, during different armed displacements, return movements or in search of something to eat in their village.
“These girls are left with unwanted and very high-risk pregnancies. Some survivors, no longer wanting to bear it, have the urge to commit suicide.
“There are also cases of some partners wanting to end their marriage because they believe their partner wanted it. Imagine the stigma, distress, guilt and rejection faced by these women and girls who are survivors of sexual violence. ”
The statement also said that in February ,two SCI-supported health facilities in North Kivu were looted.
It said that both facilities helped provide desperately needed medical attention to survivors of sexual and gender-based violence.
The statement explained that the current wave of violence follows a tumultuous year of heightened outbreaks of conflict in North Kivu in 2023, when intensified fighting in the east of the country displaced more than 1 million people, including at least 500,000 children.
“Save the Children documented more than 800 cases of sexual and gender-based violence across the three conflict-affected provinces Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu.
” These statistics are likely to be a significant underestimate of the true number of cases, as sexual violence often goes underreported due to stigma and fear.’
The statement said that Save the Children and its local partners are supporting sexual assault survivors like in the DRC through mental health and psychosocial support, hospital and specialist referrals.
It added that Save the Children also provides survivors with information about support and medical attention to help prevent HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted infections, unwanted pregnancies, and to cope with distress.
“In many conflicts, sexual violence continues to be used as a weapon of war to terrorise women and children.
Save the Children calls for an immediate end to the impunity of sexual violence against children by strengthening laws and enforcing them, while holding perpetrators to account.
The child rights organisation also calls for increased investment to strengthen and better coordinate the collection of data on sexual violence and ensure survivors have access to adequate health and care services to support them on their long road to recovery.
Save the Children has worked in the DRC since 1994 to meet humanitarian needs linked to the arrival of refugees and the displacement of populations due to armed conflict in eastern provinces.
(NAN)