Women of the Democratic Republic of the Congo are, sometimes, raped until ten times a year. The non-governmental organizations that operate locally advice them to go to the hospital, which is often more than 125 miles away from the towns where they live, but when they arrive there 72 hours have passed over of aggression and there is no evidence to collect. Criminals stay unpunished and women return to their villages where they are violated again. Beyond the suffering which arises from violent act of violence that they suffer, women are often rejected by husbands and excluded from the communities where they live. This is the reality of many Congolese women. 

In many parts of the world, the human rights situation is far from ideal and gender violence is an everyday threat. One of these places is the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The international community says that the situation has gradually improved, but the humanitarian crisis is devastating. Women and girls are raped and tortured by militias and keep living a tragedy that is not so evident because people coexist with the war for a long time. How is it possible that a rape is not something of extraordinary to them? As how is it possible to have a court to condemn this type of crimes and there is no way to do it?

The Democratic Republic of the Congo adopted resolution 1325 of UN on the impact of war on women, but in practice nothing has improved, as explains the Congolese Jeannine Tshimpambu Mukanirwa, from PAIF (Promotion and support of women's initiatives): "sexual violence continues to be a weapon of massive destruction, and, despite the international initiatives, this is a crisis that is not mediated."

In a conference held yesterday, in the European Parliament, to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Resolution 1325, representatives of the European Commission said that the EU has adopted and is implementing a set of measures to solve the issue of impunity sexual in Congo. But Jeannine says that until today she has not seen any change happen and that the measures should include a great improvement of the health system, because women cannot continue to travel 125 miles for medical care: "It must exist health care centres in the villages, and the response of the health system should be sustainable and not just for urgency matters, as has happened so far."

The response to the humanitarian crisis in Congo should include a development of the local structures, especially of minor NGOs, which are those that deal with the local population and living under a constant threat by the armed forces. "The funds cannot be attributed only to the large organizations and there should be a national coordination", defended Monika Hauser, from Medica Mondiale.

"The problem of sexual impunity should no longer be endemic and we must fight for justice and dignity of women," said M. Hauser.