Warning: This feature contains distressing content.
The women's stories are told in extended captions, so if possible please view on a desktop screen.
After a decade of war that has witnessed hundreds of thousands of women falling victim to the systematic use of rape as a weapon of war, Congolese women and girls still live in daily fear of attack. Attack from armed groups, attack from civilians. The long awaited hopes of peace following the signing of a peace deal in 2002, and the general election in 2006 were never realised in the country's east where violence still persists today.
In June 2008, the UN Security Council voted unanimously to classify rape as a weapon of war. Stating that sexual violence is 'a war crime, a crime against humanity, a tactic of war to humiliate, dominate, instill fear in and forcibly relocate civilian members of a community or ethnic group.'
These images and interviews were taken back in March 2005 in the east of the Democractic Republic of Congo, however such horrifying accounts of sexual violence are still being heard today.
Womens' day to day activities make them especially vulnerable, as they travel far into remote areas to fetch water, to harvest food in their shamba, or to sell produce in a market. These are the times when many are attacked, or else the perpetrators come at night while they are sleeping in their homes.
Survivors of rape face social and economic exclusion in their communities as well as the unimaginable psychological and physical damage and it is the work of organisations such as HEAL Africa in Goma which is so vital in helping these women to recover not only in terms of health but also on a social and economic level.
'Jane', 44, was travelling to sell clothes with other women in a market 75 kms away. On the way the military stopped them. "They took everything we had. They were shooting their guns and raped us. It hurt so much. They just left us there. We were crying."
In November, 2004, 'Elizabeth' was raped on the daily 15km walk to her shamba. "The military came from behind and infront. They pushed us into a field. There were six men. They tied mine and my daughters arms behind our backs then started to beat us with guns. They also beat my baby on my back with their guns and kicked him with their feet. One by one, three of them raped me, the other three raped my four year old daughter next to me. While one raped us, the other two pointed their guns at us, holding us down with their feet. I felt like someone who has no wisdom, someone totally useless as if I had no place on earth, there was no way to shout, they would have killed us. When they had finished, they took my daughter with them, I have not seen her since."
"I was sent to the market at 7 p.m one night in 2002, to buy salt. Military men called me and forced me, dragging me, into a house. There were ten of them, one raped me. I was pushed. on to the floor. The man who raped me beat me, I tried to resist but he continued to force me. The others were helping him. After raping me he took me, by force, to Kimbumba (30km from Goma). After a week he was sent to war and left me there, I was pregnant with his child (photographed). I came back home. I have a lot of problems, I live with my mother but if she can’t find something to eat we don’t eat. I feel rejected by the community because of what happened."
'Bernadette', 50, sits on her hospital bed at HEAL Africa where she is being treated for fistula. She was raped in 2002 when harvesting cassava, a one hours walk from her home.“They came from behind, there were three men. Two of them raped me and the third went to a nearby field and raped a women there. I was three months pregnant. I cried and they told me if I continued they would kill me. They had guns. They beat me with their hands and trod on me. Four months later I aborted and contracted fistula. My husband told me we could no longer be together, as those people (who had raped her) may have left a disease in me. I feel so much pain, I don’t know when I will get rid of the burden of having fistula, it makes me feel so so sad.”
“The military came one night. My family and I were sleeping. I was the first to be raped. They forced me to take off my clothes. Four of them held me down, one on each leg. and one on each arm, while the other raped me. I was weeping so much. All five raped me.” Pewa was nine years old.
A victim of rape sits with her daughter, conceived during the attack.
'Kibakuli', 70, was alone in her house when the attackers came. It was midnight. “They stabbed me in the head and on the top of my arms with a machete as they forced my hands behind my head. I was screaming all the time as they raped me, all five of them, one by one. As one was raping me another would say; “get out so I can enter”. They hit my hand with a stick and it is now damaged. When they left I crawled out of the house. They were burning houses in the village and then burnt mine. They left me with Fistula but I was cured by DOCS (Doctors on Call for Service in Goma - now called HEAL Africa). I couldn’t stay long with Fistula, the smell was so bad from the urine.”
'Francoise', 16, was abducted at night by two soliders from the Interhamwe and taken to their forest hide out. They raped her on the way. “They told me, 'you will be our wife, if you die, you will close die here.' They forced me to have sex with them every day. There were other girls there, but I can’t remember how many as every time they attacked a village/town they came back with more girls. I was never allowed to talk to anyone. I overheard them saying that they thought that this was the best life as was possible for them, because if they went back to their country they would not be accepted. They said: ‘we will never leave Congo. Our aim is to torment other people’s lives.’”
'Safi', aged around 65-70 years old, was raped in September 2004. Four soldiers attacked at night, they killed her husband and three of them raped her. Her children were crying and one was killed. She is waiting to gain strength before she can be operated on for fistula, contracted when she was raped.
“When the military (five) had all raped me, they went into my parents room. They beat my father, tied his hands behind his back and tied his legs. Then all five raped my mother. My brothers and sisters and father had to watch. All I could hear was them screaming." After they left, we sat up all night, we couldn’t sleep and couldn’t talk, we just sat in silence until morning.”
'Safari', 22, has been raped twice by soldiers. In 2004 her village was attacked. As she escaped, pregnant, she met five soldiers. "They terrified me with their guns and said ‘we will kill you we will kill you’. They raped me. I aborted and contracted fistula." Seven days after returning home from her fistula operation in Goma her village was attacked again, and burnt. Her family fled into the bush. "We built a house out of leaves so that we could run if necessary. Five months later I was raped again. The soldiers came. I ran with my three year old daughter, but they chased us. They took my daughter, and threw her to the ground. I saw four men, but don’t remember how many raped me. When they were raping me my child had to watch everything." Safari’s operation was damaged and she is back in Goma waiting for treatment. "I don’t know how many times this will happen. I am powerless, how can I protect myself."
A young girl travels far through the rural countryside in the Democratic Republic of Congo to collect water. The area is remote and the risk of attack is high.
Mugunga health clinic, suffers like all others in DRC from very limited medical facilities. This small four bedroom clinic serves a population of over 4400.
An elderly lady carries a heavy load of charcoal to the market in Sake, near Goma. Many women are attacked when carrying out their daily activities such as traveling to the market to sell produce
Victims of sexual violence in Goma, DRC.
A young rape victim receives counselling in Goma where she has returned after being raped for a second time.
