The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has condemned the escalating sexual violence against women and girls in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), with nearly 500 reported cases of sexual violence in the Goma area in a week, with more than 150 cases involving children. Sexual violence is being used as a war tactic with the goal of terrorizing, displacing, and controlling populations, while also violating women and girl's dignity and rights. At the same time, aid agencies, including UNFPA, face critical restrictions in the delivery of life-saving aid. UNFPA has called for support to scale up its reproductive health and gender-based violence services to address the escalating crisis.
Compiled from: “UNFPA statement on sexual violence perpetrated against women and girls in the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo,” UNFPA, 21 Feb. 2025.