Doctors Without Borders treated more than 25,000 victims of sexual violence in Congo last year, the aid group reported. This marks the highest number of cases the organization has seen, with most incidents occurring in the east, where armed groups clash for control.
The majority of the victims, averaging more than two per hour, were treated in displacement camps near Goma, the capital of North Kivu province.
Christopher Mambula, the group’s program manager in Congo, noted that two-thirds of victims reported being assaulted at gunpoint.
Eastern Congo has been plagued by violence, with over 120 armed groups vying for power and resources, leading to mass killings, rapes, and other violations.
Approximately six million people have been displaced in the region due to the ongoing conflict.
Congo has accused neighboring Rwanda of supporting the M23 rebel group, which has been involved in significant violence. Rwanda denies these accusations but admitted to deploying troops in eastern Congo for security reasons.
The humanitarian response has been inadequate, fueling the rise in sexual violence, according to Doctors Without Borders, which treated more than 17,000 victims in North Kivu from January to May this year.