According to the United Nations Children’s Fund, Children are being sexually violated in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). These acts include rape by armed men.
In a statement released on 13 February 2025, UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell made an urgent appeal for the violence to stop . She said the targeting of children has significantly increased in recent weeks.
The UNICEF executive director equally mentioned that they have been receiving horrific reports of the violence perpetrated on children.
“In North and South Kivu provinces, we are receiving horrific reports of grave violations against children by parties to the conflict. This includes rape and other forms of violence at levels surpassing anything we have seen in recent years,” she said in a statement.
She even went ahead to share stories of some survivors that have been in contact with them:
“One mother recounted to our staff how her six daughters, the youngest just 12 years old, were systematically raped by armed men while searching for food,” she said
A Rampant Phenomenon
Another adult female rape victim also recalled a similar incident to Al Jazeera, saying that “it didn’t matter if the victims were adults or children”.
She equally mentioned that the agency’s partners in the region reported the number of rape cases treated in 42 health facilities has increased times five in one week that is from 27 January to 2 February 2025.
“Of those treated, 30 per cent were children. The true figures are likely much higher because many survivors are reluctant to come forward.” She added that she was “deeply alarmed by the intensifying violence”, particularly the effects on children and families. It is equally suspected that all parties to the conflict commit sexual violence. Still in the statement, Rusell calls for the parties of the conflict to immediately cease and prevent grave rights violations against children.
Ramatou Toure, chief of child protection of UNICEF in DRC described the situation as extremely worrying, noting that the armed groups are using violence as a weapon of war. She even explained that some of the victims were boys.
As the conflict in DRC intensifies, thousands of families are affected with many children being separated from their fleeing families thus exposing them to a high risk of violence.
Worsening Humanitarian Crisis
According to reports from UNICEF, in the past two weeks, more than 1,100 unaccompanied children have been identified in the two Kivu provinces. This has increased the risk of children as young as 12 being brainwashed and coerced to join the fighting. And as the rebel offensive widens, the recruitment of youth by all groups is likely to accelerate as M23 captured North Kivu’s capital last month and is pushing the fight further south.
The DRC has been experiencing ongoing conflict for decades, with multiple wars and insurgencies shaping its history. However, there has been a renewed conflict involving the M23 rebel group that started gaining significant international attention in late 2021 and escalated in 2022. They fight for the rights of Congolese Tutsis and oppose discrimination, insecurity, and marginalisation in eastern DRC. However, their motives connect deeply to ethnic, political, and regional power struggles involving Rwanda, Uganda, and the DRC government. The M23 conflict poses a significant security challenge in the Great Lakes region, as ongoing tensions between DRC and Rwanda continue to fuel instability.
