Located in central Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo is in deep humanitarian crisis as the civil war continuing there has led to massive loss of human lives in the last 15 years. Congo has always been the epicenter of all wars in Africa. The war had an economic as well as a political side. Fighting was aggravated by the country's enormous mineral wealth, with all sides taking benefit of the chaos to rob natural resources.
Situated at the heart of sub-Saharan Africa, Congo was bestowed with the resources of vast potential wealth, but its economy declined since mid 1980s. Economy of Congo relies heavily on mining and the country is largest producer of cobalt ore and major contributors in global production of copper and industrial diamond.
Apart from these, the Democratic Republic of Congo has also been the focus of the world for pitiable condition of women as UN reports it to be the rape capital of the world. In the last 15 years, millions of women have been being raped, tortured and ill treated in the country. In the fight against the Congolese govt, rebel soldiers, primarily in eastern parts, use rape to intimidate the local people.
According to American Journal of Public Health, approximately 1.69 to 1.80 million Congolese women reported having been raped in their lifetime (with 407397–433785 women reporting having been raped in the preceding 12 months), and approximately 3.07 to 3.37 million women reported experiencing partner sexual violence. Reports of sexual violence were largely independent of individual-level background factors. However, compared with women in Kinshasa, women in Nord-Kivu were significantly more likely to report all types of sexual violence.
The scale of violence against women in Congo is much higher than we can imagine. In fact United Nations officials have described the Congo as the epicenter of rape being utilized as a weapon of war.
The deplorable story of Congolese women is loud and clear. While most parts of the world are aspiring towards goals that give everyone equal opportunity to learn and grow, the world still remains mute spectator as Congo makes the worst example of crimes against women.
