Congo’s eastern provinces have been plagued by conflict for more than two decades. Rape has been used by all sides of the conflict as a weapon of war. The presence of armed groups and high numbers of internal displacement has increased the vulnerability of the population towards different forms of abuse such as sexual violence. More than 5,000 women were raped in South Kivu alone during 2009, according to the UN. A majority of these were raped by soldiers or armed rebels.
Following the official end of the war in DRC, studies have found an increase in rapes committed by civilians. A study published by Oxfam and Harvard Humanitarian Initiative (HHI) in April 2010, was based on interviews with 4,311 female survivors of rape treated within previous phases of the Survivors of Sexual Violence (SSV) project at Panzi Hospital. The study found an increase in number of civilian rapes among the patients treated in the SSV project.
The number of reported civilian rapes among patients admitted to the SSV-project in 2008 was 11 per cent and in 2009 it increased to 15 per cent. From July 2009 to June 2010 the figure had further increased to 18 per cent.
The challenge for the survivors of sexual violence and women with gynaecological conditions to access primary as well as secondary health care remains significant. This is due to factors such as displacement, political insecurity and lack of capacity within the local health structures.