A Genocide of Women

As conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo continues, rape has turned into a weapon of war. A recent human rights report states that "the number of attacks on women have grown three hundred percent over the past few years."

“Rape is being used as a weapon of war in eastern Congo,” a researcher explains, “so we notice and we have documented that when armed groups walk into town, they will rape the women and girls, sometimes publicly, sometimes privately, in order to punish the local population. It's the easiest way to terrorize a community.”

“One of the other sad realities is that the majority of those who are raped are adolescent girls, 12-year-olds, 13-year-olds, 14-year-olds. Their lives are often ruined by this. And I think we've got to take more seriously -- protection of civilians is not just protecting them from death. It's protecting them from rape.”

Some victims would argue, there isn’t much difference.