At least 303 women were raped, some more than once, by armed groups in the DRC between 30 July and 2 August. The mass rape was confirmed in a report by the UN High Commission for Human Rights. The preliminary report says that the victims include ‘235 women, 52 girls, 13 men and three boys’. The 15 pages of this shocking report follow an investigation that warns that ‘the number of victims may be higher’. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, added in a press release that the ‘number and violence of these mass reports is beyond imagination’. What’s more: in the attacks ‘932 homes were burned down, 42 shops looted and 116 people taken away for use as slaves’.
