Sexual violence prevalent in NE DRC

DRC: "The rapists roam the streets"
Reuters AlertNet - London,England,UK
BUNIA, 21 January 2008 (IRIN) - Rape and other forms of sexual violence remain prevalent in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), despite the cessation of military activities and the disarmament of militias in the region, according to aid workers. Before, this was mainly attributed to men in uniform, but now civilians comprise a significant number of the perpetrators. "The rapists roam the streets; [local] customs allow them to pay a goat [as recompense to the victim's family] without serving prison terms. Even worse, some of the rapists are HIV-positive or old and rape girls of around 12 and 13 thinking they will be cured [of illness] or live longer," Marie Pacuryema, the coordinator of a local NGO, Solidarité Féminine pour la Paix et le Développement Intégré en Ituri, said. A November 2007 report released by Médecins Sans Frontières-Suisse said that since 2003, between 30 and 500 patients reported sexual assaults each month in Ituri. At least 2,708 people were also raped in an 18-month period, with 7,000 more having been raped in a four-year period, according to the report. "The statistics do not give the real picture on the ground," Marie-Louise Uronya, head of the Office for Gender, Family and Children in Ituri, said. "Many have been raped but fear reporting it due to shame, fear of reprisals or rejection by society, among other reasons," ... "It does not stop; we think that the same rapists of yesterday who were released from the armed groups into the community are still carrying on with the habit," Francine Mangaza, an officer with the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) ... One of the causes of the chronic rape was the culture of impunity, Mangaza of UNICEF said ...