El Memeyi Murangwa

  9/25/10                                          

The rape is being used as a weapon in the democratic republic of Congo (DRC).  Armed groups and unpaid soldiers rape to terrorize and control women and communities to humiliate families.  

The used of rape as a weapon in Congo is wrong. It should be condemned by the International community who must put a pressure on the Congolese Government to force it to pay salary to unpaid soldiers. The events that happen in Congo should be disclosed; and this is the only way to help those suffering voiceless women and girls.

Located in Central Africa, Congo is the third largest country in Africa after Sudan and Algeria. Congo is populated with more than 65,000,000. The country is rich in mines, and has 14 % of rain forest of the world. The country is crossed by the Congo River which ends up in the Atlantic Ocean.               

The impact of rape on the Congolese Community has been occurring since 1998. A war involving seven neighbor countries fighting to control rich mines of the country has killed over 5.4 million people and displaced many. After a peace agreement between antagonists, armed groups replaced foreign armies and started committing rape and other sexual violence. Today women are scared to do farming, and malnutrition affects more than 10,000,000 children. Factory and businesses are closed. In addition, there is no road and no communication between provinces.  The corrupted government is unable to pay salaries. Congo became the poorest country in the world. The presence of 20,000 peacekeepers from the United Nations (UN) does not help at all.  Many local news agencies reported recently that ten thousands women and girls have suffered attacks, leaving them physically damaged, and emotionally terrorized. Most of them are unable to access to good medical care.

The use of rape as a weapon must be condemned by the entire world. Considering the location of the country, its wonderful climate, and its huge potential, Congo must be well managed to avoid such degrading situation on its population.  The bad impact of rape in the Congolese community must be disclosed to the world in order to avoid proliferation of this crime against women in other countries. 

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