Sexual Violence In Eastern Congo Amid M23 Conflict

GOMA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO (DRC) - MARCH 26, 2024: Esperance Kanyamanza, 25 at Kanyaruchinya IDP camp. She fled from her village as M23 rebels attacked. "The enemy was already very close. We heard gunshots and bombs." Her husband died in one of the attacks. While fleeing, she was caught by rebels and raped. Photographed on March 26, 2024 in Goma, DRC. She described her attack this way: "They didn't say anything. He just ripped my dress and tore down my tights. I screamed as loud as I could but he put his hands over my mouth. It hurt so much. He humiliated me. Each thrust tearing me apart. It took about an hour because we were fighting. I heard the others screaming from a distance. This was the first time. It happened two more times. And I keep going back to the forest to fetch wood because I don't have a choice. I go when my children are crying from hunger. I go when we don't have clothes. I go when we don't have anything. I was totally naked and had to walk that way out of the forest. Bleeding and stumbling. My entire body hurt." At the heart of a deepening hunger crisis lies a catastrophic situation for women and girls, particularly those living in IDP camps. Women and girls face a constant threat of sexual violence, particularly when they go searching for firewood to sell to buy food for their families, resulting in horrifying rates of rape and gender-based violence. The conflict and violence in the Eastern Democratic republic of Congo led by M23 rebels has displaced nearly one million people since the start of the year, with most arriving to IDP camps in the outskirts of Goma; this has led to food shortages and a conflict-driven hunger crisis. As violence in the eastern provinces surges, it is forcing families to flee again and causing mass displacement while more and more people arrive in already overcrowded camps. (Photo by Jonathan Torgovnik/Getty Images)