200,000 Cases of Confirmed Sexual Violence

Brutalities have led to rape, serious injuries and death to tens of thousands of women and girls. Violence against women seems to be perceived by large sectors of society as normal.

CONGO (Catholic Online) - The United Nations has recorded at least 200,000 cases of sexual violence in eastern Congo since conflict erupted in 1996, at its height, drawing in a half dozen of the country's neighbors, each greedy for a share of the region's vast rich mineral resources which include cobalt, copper and DIAMONDS.

In eastern Congo, the prevalence and intensity of rape and other sexual violence is described as the worst in the world. A 2006 report by the African Association for the Defense of Human Rights prepared for that committee provides a broad overview of issues confronting women in the DRC in law and in daily life. They have been raped during warfare and kept as slaves for soldiers. When the women are released, most killed themselves or checked into a hospital where they would later die from their injuries.

The war has made the very life of women more precarious. Violence against women seems to be perceived by large sectors of society as normal. In July 2007, the International Committee of the Red Cross expressed concern about the situation in eastern DRC. A phenomenon of 'pendulum displacement' has developed, where people hasten at night to safety. According to the UN Special Reporter on Violence, Yakin Ertürk, who toured eastern Congo in July 2007, violence against women in North and South Kivu included "unimaginable brutality". "Armed groups attack local communities, loot, rape, kidnap women and children and make them work as sexual slaves," Ertürk said.

A 2003 peace deal reduced the fighting but both the army and rebel groups continue to attack villages and kill civilians.

More than 5 million have been killed and hundreds of thousands left homeless over the past decade, with brutalities commonplace in rural communities, including gang rapes, which have led to pregnancies, serious injuries and death to tens of thousands of women and girls.

Earlier this month a leading human rights group demanded that Congo crack down on rampant sexual violence perpetrated by military generals and other top officers.
Citing U.N. data that show 7,703 cases of sexual violence by the army reported last year, Human Rights Watch said the Congolese authorities have failed to prevent the attacks, most of which were on adolescent girls.

The group called on the U.N. Security Council to take "tough measures," including travel bans, and other sanctions against individuals or governments that commit or condone sexual violence in Congo and elsewhere.

On Friday, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for global action to stop government forces and armed groups from using sexual violence "like a grenade or a gun" to pursue their goals, including in Congo, Chad, Sudan, Burundi, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

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Christianity is the majority religion in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, followed by about 80% of the population. Denominations include Roman Catholic 50%, Protestant 20%, Kimbanquist 10%.

Of the remaining 20% of the population, half are Muslim, and the rest follow traditional beliefs or syncretic sects. Islam was introduced and mainly spread by Arab traders/merchants involved in the ivory trade. Traditional religions embody such concepts as monotheism, animism, vitalism, spirit and ancestor worship, witchcraft, and sorcery and vary widely among ethnic groups.

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