Sexual Violence: Inside the Besieged City of Goma
A United Nations expert panel said in December there was “substantial evidence” Rwanda was directly backing M23 with arms, ammunition and uniforms. The rebels carry new weapons, helmets and body armour, while Rwandan troops have been found inside DRC territory.
As the M23 rebel group has swept this corner of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), it has been accused of murders, rapes and kidnappings.
Hundreds of thousands have left their homes to escape such atrocities and seek refuge in the city. Yet women in particular find little sanctuary inside the besieged Goma enclave. Starving and desperate, they were hunted by armed gangs of men seeking to exploit their vulnerability.
It is estimated at least 50 women from the Goma camps are being raped and sexually assaulted every day, many of whom are targeted as they search for scraps of food beyond the city’s borders.
The current crisis here, marked by rampant sexual violence, severe food shortages and extreme poverty, has been fuelled by the resurgence of the M23 rebel group. The militia is backed by neighbouring Rwanda, a country currently receiving large sums of UK money under a deal to host some of those seeking asylum in Britain.
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People queue for practically non-existent WFP food deliveries. Lushagala IDP camp.
A child stands on a lava field in an IDP camp on the Northern outskirts of Goma.
A child plays with a makeshift kite in an IDP camp on the Northern outskirts of Goma.
Lushagala IDP camp, Lwashi Primary School, a teacher struggles to mark work. The roll of 120 pupils has swollen to 6500 by IDPÕs. Some classes have up to 78 pupils.
Lushagala IDP camp, Lake Kivu in the background.
Military Governor of Goma, General Constant Ndima Kongba.
Mapenzi Naomi, 4, at the Kanyarutshinya IDP camp North of Goma. The camp, like all around Goma, is built on lava flows from the nearby volcano.
Cholera is an ever-present threat. MSF clinic Lushagala IDP camp.
Water is in scarce supply in all the IDP camps and regular deliveries are required.
In Kanyarutshinya IDP camp near Goma camp, president Theophile Musekula makes arrangements for 110 sub- camps, about 55000 households.
The MSF malnutrition clinic in the Rusayo IDP camp. Divine, 10 yrs, carries her malnourished brother Sengiumva.
Children in an IDP camp north of Goma. The sense of militarisation is never far away.
Ten-month-old Aimee Mercije receives treatment for cholera in a Medair clinic at the Busagara IDP camp near Goma.
23 yr old Uzumukunda with three of her five children. They live in the Mboga primary school which is still in use.
In Kanyarutshinya IDP camp near Goma, IDP's queue for vouchers entitling them to yet to be scheduled food deliveries.
At an MSF health clinic in Rusayo IDP camp, some of the 35 victims of sexual violence who attended on one day.
Furaha Riziki, a mother-of-six who fled Kiwandja earlier this year was attacked and raped a month ago while looking for food.
An IDP family clean up after breakfast in the Mboga primary school, which is still in use.
A child at the Kanyarutshinya IDP camp North of Goma. The camp, like all around Goma, is built on lava flows from the nearby volcano.
In Kanyarutshinya IDP camp near Goma, IDPÕs try to find their names on lists of 500,000 potential recipients for yet to be scheduled food deliveries.
The Niyonzima family who now live in the Mboga primary school, which is still in use.
Eight-year-old old Kazako waits in a Medair clinic at the Busagara IDP camp near Goma.
A woman at the Kanyarutshinya IDP camp North of Goma. The camp, like all around Goma, is built on lava flows from the nearby volcano.
Lushagala IDP camp.
MSF health clinic, Rusayo IDP camp.
In Kanyarutshinya IDP camp near Goma, IDPÕs try to find their names on lists of 500,000 potential recipients for yet to be scheduled food deliveries.
Women are increasingly turning to prostitution in the camps in order to survive. 17 year old Francine Buhunda (not her real name). Rape is an ever-present threat - "When I am staying in this tent, I am awake all night because someone can get in here and do whatever they want".