lynsey addario, photographer

Africa: Rape in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Congolese women who were sexually assaulted sit in a shelter run by Heal Africa in Goma, North Kivu, in Eastern Congo, April 10, 2008. An average of 400 women per month were estimated to be sexually assualted in the autumn of 2007 in eastern Congo, while in the first months of 2008, the figure dropped to an average of 100 women per month. This said, many women never make it to treatment centers, and are not accounted for in these statistics.
Goma, DRC

Congolese women who were sexually assaulted sit in a shelter run by Heal Africa in Goma, North Kivu, in Eastern Congo, April 10, 2008. An average of 400 women per month were estimated to be sexually assualted in the autumn of 2007 in eastern Congo, while in the first months of 2008, the figure dropped to an average of 100 women per month. This said, many women never make it to treatment centers, and are not accounted for in these statistics.