BEIJING, Oct. 18 (Xinhuanet) -- Many Congolese rape survivors came out to the streets on Sunday to protest against sexual attacks, CNN reports.
Some of the victims left hospital to join the march in a county in eastern Congo where sexual violence has been taken as a war tactic.
"They have had enough, enough, enough, enough," said a Congolese women's activist of the women marching. "Enough of the war, of the rape, of nobody paying attention to what's happening to them."
The Democratic Republic of Congo has been named the "rape capital of the world" by the United Nations. A UN document released this September admitted rape has been a perennial and mass problem in this part of the country for the past 15 years.
Rapes occurred in the country when armed rebel groups moved into regions that are considered to be pro-government but lacking in army or police protection, according to the U.N.
Over 300 civilians were raped by armed militia between July 30 and Aug. 2, according to a U.N. preliminary report. Last year, 15,000 women were raped in eastern Congo.
A U.N. official said one distraught Congolese woman had told her that "a dead rat is worth more than the body of a woman."
Sunday's march was organized by the World March of Women together with local women's groups. Organizers hoped the march would combat the stigma attached to rape victims and draw international attention to the problem of rape as a weapon of war.
(Agencies)
