The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Edited News | UNHCR , UNITED NATIONS , UNOG
DRC - Rising Violence Against Women And Girls - UNHCR
DRC: Spike of gender-based violence due to increased armed conflict, warns UNHCR
Resurgent violence between non-state armed groups and government forces across North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has displaced 2.8 million people since March 2022, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, warned on Friday.
Many of those uprooted have suffered severe human rights violation, especially forcibly displaced women and girls who have endured rape and sexual exploitation, UNHCR said.
“10,000 people who have been able to access gender-based violence services in North Kivu in the first quarter of this year, 66 per cent of them have been raped”, said Gillian Triggs, UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, briefing journalists at the United Nations in Geneva. “This is a very significant number and many of those gender-based violations are reportedly perpetrated by men of these armed groups.”
This data was shared from the DRC Government by an inter-agency protection coordination network which operates as part of the Protection Cluster under UNHCR’s lead.
The UN refugee agency, however, beliefs that this reflects only the tip of the iceberg. Many survivors may be unable to reach life-saving gender-based violence (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.
“The displaced community within the country is something staggering, it’s about 6.3 million, but it’s also shocking that 2.8 million have been displaced in the provinces that I mentioned: North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri since March last year,” said UNHCR’s Ms. Triggs.
As access to resources diminishes, dangers and risks spike, and women and girls are being driven to take greater risks to meet critical needs. Reports have been received of women and girls being sexually assaulted when collecting firewood and water.
According to Ms. Triggs, “this is probably one of the most neglected and severe humanitarian protection crises we have globally. It has sadly been left aside. It’s perhaps been protracted, and we are now calling at the UN Refugee agency for much greater attention to the severity of this protection crisis.”
Food insecurity and the lack of livelihood opportunities have also increased risks of exploitation and abuse of women and adolescent girls. Some women are being forced to resort to harmful coping mechanisms, including transactional sex in the spontaneous settlements around Goma, the capital of North Kivu.
“Women are not able to feed their families, they are not able to get livelihoods. And sadly, they are at risk of exploitation and abuse and ultimately resort to harmful coping mechanisms, transactional sex, in these spontaneous settlements,” said Ms. Triggs.
UNHCR and humanitarian actors are working to help mitigate and respond to these mounting risks. They provide humanitarian assistance, psychosocial care and shelter support and cooperate with local women-led organizations, which have been at the forefront of the crisis.
UNHCR reported that they have reached more than 9,000 people with GBV prevention and response interventions since the beginning of the year.
“We are calling on governments, we spoke to local mayors, we spoke to local governments, understanding of course, that for them it’s a security problem, they have to deal with the security but they’re very alert to this rise, massive rise, in brothels as a means of coping”, noted UNHCR’s Assistant High Commissioner for Protection. “But we also, of course, call for those responsible for these violations to be held to account.”
In total, more than 6.3 million people are internally displaced across the DRC exposed to staggering violence and making it one of the largest internal displacement crises worldwide. To date, UNHCR has received only 33 per cent of the $233 million required to address their urgent needs.
-ends-
- Exterior medium shot: UN Palais with flags
- Wide shot: speakers and moderator behind panel, attendees, photographer at the press conference
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Gillian Triggs, UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner for Protection: “10’000 people who have been able to access gender-based violence services in North Kivu in the first quarter of this year. 66 per cent of them have been raped. This is a very significant number and many of those GBV violations are reportedly perpetrated by men of these armed groups.”
- Medium shot: speaker behind panel, photographer at the press conference
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Gillian Triggs, UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner for Protection: “The displaced community within the country is something staggering, it’s about 6.3 million, but it’s also shocking that 2.8 million have been displaced in the provinces that I mentioned: North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri since March last year.”
- Close shot: photographer at the press conference
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Gillian Triggs, UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner for Protection: “This is probably one of the most neglected and severe humanitarian protection crises we have globally. It has sadly been left aside. It’s perhaps been protracted, and we are now calling at the UN Refugee agency for much greater attention to the severity of this protection crisis.”
- Close shot: speaker at the press conference
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Gillian Triggs, UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner for Protection: “Women are not able to feed their families, they are not able to get livelihoods. And sadly, they are at risk of exploitation and abuse and ultimately resort to harmful coping mechanisms, transactional sex, in these spontaneous settlements.”
- Close shot: attendees and moderator at the press conference
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Gillian Triggs, UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner for Protection: “We are calling on governments, we spoke to local mayors, we spoke to local governments, understanding of course, that for them it’s a security problem, they have to deal with the security but they’re very alert to this rise, massive rise, in brothels as a means of coping. But we also, of course, call for those responsible for these violations to be held to account.”
- Medium shot: moderator and camerawoman at the press conference
- Medium shot: speaker behind panel at the press conference
- Close shot: attendees taking notes at the press conference
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Monday gave an update to the Human Rights Council on the situation in El Fasher, Sudan.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
“A series of new Israeli operations and settlement plans in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, risk seriously undermining the viability of a Palestinian state and the realisation of the Palestinians’ right to self-determination,” the UN Human Rights Spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan told the bi-weekly press conference in Geneva today.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNIS
UN voices concern over chemical spraying incident on Lebanon’s Blue Line
The UN reiterated concerns on Friday at reports that Israeli forces sprayed herbicide over areas north of the Blue Line separating Lebanon from Israel. The development poses a “serious humanitarian risk” to civilians living there, said the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), briefing journalists in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Gaza: Five patients evacuated as Rafah reopens while ‘too many stayed behind’ – WHO
As time is running out for thousands of critically ill patients in Gaza, hope is alive for medical evacuations to increase with the reopening of the Rafah crossing in the southern part of the Strip, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNOG , OHCHR
This Sunday marks five years of crisis in Myanmar. Jeremy Laurence, spokesperson for the UN Human Rights, and James Rodehaver, chief of the Myanmar team, today spoke on the conduct of recent military-imposed elections, deploring the failure to respect the fundamental human rights of the country’s citizens. The process served only to exacerbate violence and societal polarization.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF
Brutal Gaza war erased years of progress on education, in an “assault on the future itself” – UNICEF
Restoring Gaza’s shattered education system is “lifesaving” and getting children back into schools must be an immediate priority, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , HRC
Volker Türk, the UN Human Rights High Commissioner, made the following remarks during a briefing to a Special Session on Iran at the Human Rights Council.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA , UNOPS , UNIS
Amid the launch of President Trump's Board of Peace and reconstruction talks on Gaza, UN aid agencies insisted on Friday that what Gazans need most is immediate relief from the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe there.
2
6
1
2
Edited News , Press Conferences , Images | HRC
At UN, war crimes probe pledges to continue to work for all impacted by Hamas-Israel conflict
As President Trump launched the international Board of Peace plan for Gaza on Thursday, top independent rights experts tasked by the UN Human Rights Council with investigating grave abuses linked to the Hamas-Israel war pledged to continue their work seeking justice and accountability for all.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Office Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said Tuesday UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk was outraged by the repeated large-scale attacks by the Russian Federation on energy infrastructure in Ukraine.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN warns against repeating abuses in South Kordofan that occurred in El Fasher.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNICEF
Mozambique floods heighten disease, malnutrition risks – UN agencies
Catastrophic flooding in Mozambique is causing massive disruption to lives and livelihoods across the country, increasing the risk of disease and exposing urban areas to crocodiles, UN humanitarians warned on Tuesday.