On November 25th, 2019, offices at the MONUSCO headquarters were set ablaze by angry protestors who expressed frustration at the fact that action was not being taken to protect them from militia attacks. The U.N.’s Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) has also felt the pressure of the conflict. The African Union, United Nations, and neighbouring countries have all been unable to deal with the threat posed by rebel groups. The prevalence of armed groups combined with poor governance has left countless Congolese men, women and children vulnerable to rape and sexual violence as well as other horrific human rights violations. Since then, armed groups have continued to target innocent people. It is estimated that over five million people were killed. Opposing Tutsi groups were formed and war eventually broke out when the Congolese government was unable to control the chaos. following the genocide and used Hutu refugee camps in eastern Congo as bases in which to continue their attacks against Rwanda. originated in the aftermath of the 1994 Rwandan genocide. While the country has been in crisis, it has been described as “the rape capital of the world.” The 2019 report found that the Democratic Republic of the Congo topped the list of countries prone to sexual violence in conflict. The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) has identified that the main perpetrators of these sexual attacks tend to be regional political militias and state forces.

report on sexual violence in conflict found that rape is used as a strategy of war in 15 countries around the world, mostly in Africa and the Middle East. Inge Skjelsbæk, professor at PRIO has said that over time, discourse has shifted from the idea that rape is something that just “inevitably happens in war because men are men,” to acknowledging that “rape is a clear war strategy and a war crime that threatens international peace and security.” Rape has been deployed in conflicts throughout history as a form of psychological warfare intended to punish, intimidate, and destroy whole communities. It is no secret that sexual violence is widely used as a weapon of war.

Strategic war rape