Rape during the First and Second Congo Wars

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reported that over 50 percent of survivors believed that the use of rape was a deliberate tactic used for the extermination of the Congolese people.

In 2009, several non-governmental organizations including HRW and Amnesty International (AI) reported that the rape of males in the DRC was systematic, and on the increase.

[6] The majority of the rapes have been carried out by militias, such as the Lord's Resistance Army, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, the Mai-Mai and the Congrès national pour la défense du peuple.

Since 2009, rapes, killings and human rights violations carried out by the armed forces (FARDC) of the DRC have increased.

[7] According to Amnesty International, the use of rape during times of war is not a by-product of conflicts, but a pre-planned and deliberate military strategy.

Journalists and human rights organizations have documented campaigns of genocidal rape during the conflicts in the Balkans, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, Liberia, Sudan, Uganda, and the DRC.

An interview with a survivor gave an account of gang rape, forced cannibalism of a fetus taken from an eviscerated woman and child murder.

At the Saint Paul Health Center in Uvira, in a review of medical records from 658 survivors nine percent returned positive for HIV.

[4] When surveyed on their opinions as to the motivation behind the sexual violence, 83 per cent believed that poor organization, training and a lack of discipline played a contributing role.

57 per cent believed that the sexual violence was used as a tactic for the deliberate extermination of the Congolese people, from the witness statements MSF came to the conclusion that the "Sexual violence has been so clearly linked to the military strategy of warring parties and has occurred in such a systematic way that it is wrong to think of it as a side effect of war"[4] In 2013 a mass trial of 39 FARDC soldiers began.

The men were accused of raping 102 women and 33 girls in the township of Minova following their retreat from Goma after an attack by M23 forces.

[22] Chishugi founded the charity Everything is a Benefit which campaigns on behalf of the survivors of the victims of rape and other human rights abuses during civil conflicts.

[25] Documentary maker, Fiona Lloyd-Davies, released Seeds of Hope at the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict.