U.N. peacekeepers silent as 200 women gang-raped

Category: International Published on Wednesday, 01 September 2010 10:28 Written by NNPA News Service Hits: 1143

(NNPA/GIN)—An American aid worker and Congolese doctor reported last week that nearly 200 women and some young boys were gang-raped by Congolese and Rwandan rebels over four days within miles of a U.N. peacekeepers’ base in an eastern Democratic Republic of Congo mining district.

More than three weeks later, the U.N. mission has issued no statement about the atrocities and said Monday it still is investigating.

Congolese culture itself did not openly speak of rape until very recently.

An estimated 500,000 women and girls have been victims of sexual violence since the Second Congo War began in 1996.