Over the past year, sexual violence in North Kivu, eastern DRC, has surged dramatically amid intensified conflict—particularly between government forces (FARDC) and the Rwanda‑backed M23 rebel group. According to the UN Secretary‑General’s annual report on conflict‑related sexual violence, healthcare providers treated over 17,000 victims in North Kivu between January and May 2024 alone—nearly matching the 22,000 cases documented throughout all of 2023, representing a stark escalation.
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) further documented that in 2024, teams treated nearly 40,000 survivors across eastern DRC, with 17,363 patients treated in North Kivu just within those first five months—accounting for almost 70% of cases in five provinces. In Goma and surrounding displacement camps, MSF recorded an average of 100 cases per day by March 2024; 98% of survivors were women and girls, and 10% were minors.
A household survey conducted among displaced persons near Goma revealed harrowing levels of abuse: over 10% of women aged 20–44 reported being raped in the five months prior, with rates exceeding 17% in some camps. Teenage girls and older women were also heavily affected.
This surge in sexual violence is part of a broader pattern. A Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) report notes that over 113,000 cases were registered across eastern DRC in 2023, and reports more than doubled in the first half of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. PHR described widespread use of sexual violence as a weapon of war by both armed groups—including FARDC and M23—and even community members or peacekeepers.
In March 2025, as conflict intensified, ActionAid recorded a near 700% increase in reports of sexual violence compared to February—381 reports in March and April alone, nearly half of all cases recorded in 2024.
These deeply disturbing trends reveal how the escalating conflict, mass displacement, food insecurity, and breakdown of protective structures have converged to produce one of the worst surges in war‑related sexual violence anywhere in the world. Survivors face immense challenges accessing medical, psychological, and legal support, with health facilities overwhelmed and supplies dwindling.
Addressing this crisis requires urgent international intervention: scaling up survivor services, improving security around displaced populations, and holding perpetrators accountable through documentation and justice mechanisms.
