Every hour, 48 women are raped in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The harrowing statistics earned the central African country the unenviable title of “rape capital of the world”. In a country officially at peace since 2003, fighting never stopped and with it sexual violence which has been used as a weapons of war throughout the years.
Amid the horrifying crimes committed by militia and the Congolese army in DRC, the mass rape in Minova, a market town in South Kivu, on the border with North Kivu, stands out for its ruthlessness.
Soldiers, around 2,000 of them, were retreating to the town, firing gunshots in the air when the commander ordered them to “go and rape women”.
One soldier confessed:
It’s true that we raped here. We found women because they can’t escape. You see her, you catch her, you take her away and you have your way with her. Sometimes you kill her. When you finish raping then you kill her child. When we rape, we feel free.
In the town, the Congolese army also raped women from a community centre for rape survivors founded by Masika, herself raped multiple times by the militia. Masika says she has become a target since she founded the centre.
“Since I have been doing this work, I have been raped three times,” she says. “I have been beaten, tortured and left to die.” On one occasion, a soldier raped her with his foot.
“When he finished, he spat on me. That’s when I thought about killing myself. I am constantly haunted by this,” she says…
South Africa Today Africa – Africa News Central Africa DR Congo
