Conflict-related sexual violence emerges as a crisis in Congo
I n May 2011, a study was published concerning an inexcusable human rights crisis. The Associated Press reported on the story in the central African country of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The study indicates that approximately 1,152 women are raped in the DRC every day. This translates into a rate of 48 women being raped in the Congo every hour. The study also indicates that on average, 29 Congolese women out of every 1,000 had been a victim of rape nationwide. Compared to women in the DRC, women living in the United States face a lower incidence of rape. The annual rate in the U.S. is 0.5 per 1,000 women. A woman in Congo is 58 times more likely to be a victim of rape than a woman in the United States. This staggering information is based on the occurrence during a 12-month period from 2006 – 2007 where more than 400,000 women in the Congo were raped. The DRC has a population of nearly 72 million people and is about ¼ of the size of the United States in te