The U.N. refugee agency says there’s been an alarming rise in sexual violence in the DRC’s North Kivu Province.Fighting between government forces and two rebel groups has displaced thousands of civilians, leaving them vulnerable to attack.North Kivu Province is practically synonymous with sexual violence.While the names of the armed groups may have changed over the many years of conflict, brutal sexual attacks on women, girls, men and boys have remained constant.UNHCR’s Fatoumata Lejeune-Kaba said the attacks have risen sharply in the first half of the year.“When we look at the number of sexual violence cases reported to our staff for the first half of this year it’s 705 cases --and this includes 619 rape cases -- compared to last year for the same period where we had 108 registered cases and this includes males.We are worried that the current fighting will increase the danger for the women in the region.A lot of the times the number of rape cases increases with the level of violence.”These are just the cases recorded by UNHCR teams. Most of the sexual violence is committed by members of armed groups.“These are militiamen. Some of them are from the Congolese army itself.What these civilians, who suffer from these sexual assaults, tell us is that different armed groups blame them for siding with the enemy.
