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Support and justice for the victims of rape and sexual violence in Congo

The African Leadership, Learning and Advocacy Group Inc (ALLAG) is working with committed local people in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Congo) to help women who have been victims of rape seek justice while allowing them to regain their dignity, respect, and identity.

The tragedy that is unfolding in Congo as a result of the war is unparalleled. Congo has 26 provinces with a total population of 66 million people. During the war that has been waged since 1998, more than 5.4 million have died, most of these fatalities have occurred in the five insecure eastern provinces. In Eastern Congo, a region made of only three provinces, more than 41,000 women have been raped between 1998 and 2005, and in 2007 alone, the World Health Organization reports that 27,000 women were kidnapped, raped or mutilated. It is estimated that, in Eastern Congo alone, on average 40 women are systematically kidnapped, raped, mutilated and tortured every day by soldiers of various militias who act with impunity. Their agenda is to use secular terrorism as a form of ethnic cleansing. In this region, rape and sexual violence has become a signature for power. Mothers and young girls are raped in front of their children and family members. As the ongoing war has lead to a breakdown in law and order the perpetrators of this violence towards women act with impunity. Support for the victims in this humanitarian disaster is pitifully inadequate. The cycle of violence and hopelessness continue.