Rising violence in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo is having an outsized impact on the country's women, who are experiencing rape, sexual exploitation and torture at the hands of armed men, UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner for Protection Gillian Triggs warned at a press briefing in Geneva late last week.

“Distressing trends are unfolding in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, where resurgent violence between non-state armed groups and government forces has reverberated across the provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri," Triggs said. “As a result, 2.8 million people have been displaced across the provinces since March 2022."

Triggs went on to say that along with being murdered and tortured, Congolese civilians are experiencing arbitrary arrests and the looting and destruction of their homes, schools and health care centers.

“We are also particularly alarmed by increasing reports of sexual violence against forcibly displaced women and girls, including rape and sexual exploitation," she said.

Two-thirds of women reporting abuse were raped

The latest data reveals that out of the more than 10,000 people that accessed gender-based violence (GBV) services in North Kivu in the first quarter of the year, 66% experienced rape, often by armed men.

“We believe this, however, reflects only the tip of the iceberg for a number of reasons," said Triggs. “Many survivors may be unable to reach life-saving GBV services or report abuse out of fear of stigmatization by their communities or retaliation by perpetrators. Access to the displaced also remains a significant challenge both in terms of security and logistics."

Triggs said dwindling access to resources puts more women and girls at risk of exploitation and abuse. For example: some are being forced to resort to transactional sex in exchange for food, she said.

“We are calling on the government and local authorities to take immediate action to address this shocking GBV epidemic. Those responsible for these egregious human rights and humanitarian law violations must also be held to account," she said.

UNHCR funding levels are waning

UNHCR and humanitarian actors are working to help mitigate and respond to these mounting risks, said Triggs.

Among wider interventions, including the provision of humanitarian assistance, psychosocial care and shelter support, the UN Refugee Agency is working with local women-led organizations, which have been at the forefront of the crisis, having reached more than 9,000 people with GBV prevention and response interventions since the beginning of the year.

Interventions also include psychosocial support for survivors, as well as transformative programming focused on changing attitudes condoning violence against women and girls at the community level.

Together with IOM and UNICEF, UNHCR has facilitated the identification and transfer of more than 20,000 vulnerable displaced individuals, including women and girls, from spontaneous shelters in locations like Kanyaruchinya and Bulengo to more secure accommodation at the planned Buchagara and Rusayo II sites, where they are being provided with emergency shelter and assistance.

“We are worried, however, by waning funding levels to respond to this emergency, severely curtailing life-saving GBV prevention and response interventions. There are 522,000 refugees and asylum-seekers in the DRC," said Triggs.

“More than 6.3 million people are internally displaced across the country owing to staggering violence – making it one of the largest internal displacement crises worldwide. To date, UNHCR has received only 33% of the 233 million dollars required to address their urgent needs," she added, renewing an appeal to the international community to fund broader humanitarian and GBV prevention and response programs.