Goma : at least nine displaced women and girls raped by gunmen

The victims are settled in the Baraka site located west of the city of Goma, capital of North Kivu in eastern Congo. The perpetrators of the attack have not yet been identified.

INFO SOS Médias Burundi

The incident occurred during the night from Sunday to Monday. The incursion lasted two hours, according to camp officials. Neema Dusabe Judith, who is responsible for the protection of women and children in the Baraka camp for displaced persons, announced that nine women and girls were raped by these men armed with guns and bladed weapons including machetes and axes.

According to a parent, even minors were not spared.

“My daughter is not yet 15 years old. These criminals raped her in my presence. They had tied me up, I couldn’t intervene,” laments a devastated displaced person from Baraka.

For Fifi Isugi, a women’s rights activist in North Kivu, humanitarian organizations and the Congolese government must provide psychologists to “take care of victims of rape in the camps.” A few days ago, more than 20 other women were sexually assaulted in the Bulengo site, also in Goma, an act attributable to Congolese police officers.

The Baraka site is home to more than 81,000 displaced people, 78% of whom are women. Its occupants fled hostilities between the regular army and the M23 in the Masisi territory and part of Rutshuru.

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A group of women in the Baraka camp for displaced persons in Goma (SOS Médias Burundi)