Humanitarian crisis in dr Congo camps: women face heartbreaking choices amidst conflict

In the midst of the ongoing conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Patricia, a 15-year-old displaced by violence, bears the haunted gaze shared by countless women in her situation. Like many others, Patricia experienced a harrowing incident when she ventured outside her displacement camp, situated near the city of Goma, in search of sustenance – armed men subjected her to sexual assault.

These displacement camps, hastily established on muddy fields around the city, are now home to hundreds of thousands of people who have fallen victim to a massive humanitarian crisis sparked by the M23 rebels’ offensive, which began in late 2021, and is concentrated in North Kivu province. Rwanda’s alleged support for the Tutsi-led M23, though denied by Kigali, has escalated the situation, leaving residents of these camps with almost nothing to their names, despite the efforts of humanitarian organizations.

Patricia and her family, fleeing the conflict in North Kivu, sought refuge in the Rusayo camp near Goma, enduring harassment and theft along the way. However, Patricia mysteriously vanished during late summer, leaving her mother fearing the worst. She had sent her daughter to collect food due to their dire hunger. To her relief, Patricia reemerged in late September, but the teenager was now pregnant and revealed that she had been abducted by ethnic Hutu fighters who subjected her to weeks of rape before she managed to escape.

Sexual violence has been a persistent menace in eastern DRC, a region tormented by armed groups for three decades.

Sandra Kavira, a Congolese social worker with Doctors Without Borders (MSF), has heard countless similar stories since her assignment at the Rusayo camp began in July. She attested to the grim reality of 10 new cases of sexual violence daily, affecting even the youngest and the elderly.

Armelle Zadi, Kavira’s supervisor at MSF, recounted the tragic tale of a bedridden woman who had been gang-raped three times, rendering her unable to walk. Her daughter, left with no other option, resorted to prostitution to sustain their family. Zadi stressed that women in these camps are entrapped in an unending cycle of suffering.

The magnitude of sexual assaults around Goma is staggering. Brian Moller, an MSF emergency coordinator in Goma, disclosed that approximately 70 victims seek treatment at MSF facilities every day, translating to around 2,000 women and girls per month. Moller noted that these figures only represent the areas where MSF operates, implying that the actual numbers may be even higher.

Charmante, an 18-year-old mother, cradled her newborn child, recounting her own ordeal of being raped by a man in military attire when she left Rusayo to gather wood for her siblings’ sustenance. Her friends and her 19-year-old sister also fell victim to sexual assault during their excursions from the camp. Charmante, discovering her pregnancy at an MSF clinic, welcomed her baby, Queen, a few months later, adding yet another mouth to feed.

In interviews with AFP, all the women at Rusayo reported facing the agonizing choice between hunger within the camp or the risk of sexual violence outside its confines.

Rose, aged 43, shared a similar plight. Having undertaken a three-day journey with her seven children to reach Rusayo in November, Rose understood the dangers of leaving the camp all too well, having been gang-raped once before in 2017. Nevertheless, in June, she was compelled to venture out with three female friends, all of whom suffered sexual assault at the hands of four men in military attire. Upon her return to the camp, Rose faced further hardship when her husband, blaming her for the assault, subjected her to physical abuse before vanishing.

With tears in her eyes, Rose clung to her four-year-old son, revealing the difficulty of discussing such traumatic experiences within the camp. Yet, despite the pain, there exists a shared recognition among these women that sexual violence is a pervasive threat – a grim bond of empathy amid the adversity they endure.