Nairobi, Kenya
Tuesday, June 24, 2025
The number of children who have been sexually assaulted has tripled in one year in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), warned Save the Children in a press release on Monday, based on testimonies from victims who have fled the country.
The M23 armed group, which according to UN experts and the United States has received military support from Rwanda, has advanced rapidly in eastern DRC since January, seizing key towns and vast areas of territory in fighting that has left thousands dead.
“Armed men entered our home and raped my sister, my mother and me,” says a 16-year-old Congolese girl who fled the fighting with her family, quoted in the NGO’s statement.
“It’s very hard to look my mother in the eye after what happened, but it’s also very difficult for her to talk to us about it,” she adds, from a refugee camp in neighboring Burundi.
Since January, more than 71,000 Congolese have fled to this small Great Lakes country, one of the poorest in the world, which was already hosting thousands of refugees from previous conflicts.
Save the Children recorded more than 478 cases of gender-based violence (GBV) between January and June among people arriving in Burundi, an increase of 249% on last year.
The organization reported that 172 of these cases, mostly rapes, involved children, some with their parents, while others witnessed their mothers being raped.
The NGO estimates that the number could be much higher, due to the silence surrounding such violence linked to fear and shame.
“Unfortunately, we know that the number of cases we have recorded is just a drop in the ocean,” said Geoffrey Kirenga, the organization’s director in Burundi.
Save the Children, which has been present in the country for almost ten years, has been hit by major aid cuts from the United States and other Western donors. The cuts have led to a significant reduction in items such as diapers, sanitary towels, underwear and soap for survivors of sexual violence. They also threaten many aid programs.
Humaniterre with AFP
