Democratic Republic of the Congo: saving lives, rebuilding livelihoods

3-11-2006 Photo Collection

This gallery contains images and excerpts from a new ICRC photo exhibition that provides a fresh look at the humanitarian situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It depicts the central human concerns arising out of years of violence in which hundreds of thousands of people lost their lives, focusing on key issues such as child soldiers, sexual violence, health, water, economic security, helping abandoned communities, reuniting families and 'fighting right', and provides an overview of what the ICRC is doing to tackle these challenges.

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Female victims of sexual violence, General Hospital in Shabunda

Coping with sexual violence (1)

In recent armed conflicts it has frequently been reported that the specific and systematic targeting of women has been used as a method of warfare.

At the height of the conflict, attacking women was used as a way of terrorizing the entire civilian population and forcing it to flee so that an area could be occupied. Attacks against women are fairly widespread in the DRC, where women and young girls regularly become victims of sexual violence inflicted by armed men. The ICRC tackles various medical and psychosocial aspects of the problem of sexual violence.

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