The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is once again making grim headlines as a surge in sexual violence and rights abuses sweeps across its eastern provinces, leaving thousands of women and children in desperate need of help. The recent months have seen a staggering escalation in sexual violence, forced displacement, and brutal conflict, with humanitarian agencies and United Nations investigators warning of possible war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Between January and July 2025, Save the Children reported treating 2,702 survivors of sexual violence — a more than four-fold increase compared to the same period last year, when just 612 cases were supported. The DRC’s Ministry of Health echoed these findings, recording a 16% rise in sexual violence nationwide, with approximately 73,400 cases in the first half of the year. Startlingly, nearly one-third of these incidents involved girls under the age of 16, according to Save the Children and the Associated Press.
This spike in sexual violence is not occurring in a vacuum. The backdrop is a rapidly worsening conflict in eastern DRC, where armed groups — including the Rwanda-backed M23 militia and the Congolese military and its affiliates — have escalated attacks on civilians. As the United Nations fact-finding mission reported on September 5, 2025, all sides in the conflict have committed gross rights violations since late 2024, including summary executions and what the UN calls “rampant sexual violence.”
The M23 rebel group, which reignited its insurgency at the end of 2021, captured the strategic cities of Goma and Bukavu in early 2025, establishing their own administrations and triggering a humanitarian crisis that has displaced more than one million people this year alone. In total, the number of displaced people in Congo has reached a staggering seven million, according to the Associated Press. The fighting has killed some 3,000 people and driven families from their homes, often with nothing but the clothes on their backs.
For survivors of sexual violence, the aftermath is harrowing. Health workers at Save the Children-supported clinics have described treating women and children suffering from unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections, intense stigma, and even suicidal thoughts. Aid staff have recounted cases of children raped alongside their parents and mothers assaulted in front of their children. Ana, a 17-year-old girl from eastern DRC whose name was changed for anonymity, shared her trauma: “I screamed, I begged for mercy, but no one listened,” she told Save the Children after being dragged from her bed and raped by armed men who stormed her home. Her brother was shot dead, and other relatives were brutally beaten.
James Elder, the head of UNICEF, summed up the horror earlier this year, stating, “Sexual violence in Congo is used as a weapon of war and a deliberate tactic of terror.” The United Nations children’s agency found that children made up between 35% to 45% of the nearly 10,000 cases of rape and sexual violence reported in the DRC in just January and February 2025.
But the suffering does not end with the violence itself. Funding cuts from the United States and Europe have drastically reduced the ability of humanitarian agencies to provide critical support. Survivors who would normally receive post-exposure kits to prevent HIV, sanitary pads, or even basic soap are increasingly left without help. In June, Save the Children reported that funding shortfalls had sharply reduced support for survivors among refugees in neighboring Burundi, where cases among children more than tripled.
Greg Ramm, Save the Children’s Country Director in DRC, called the increase in cases “deeply alarming.” He warned, “The four-fold increase in cases of sexual violence supported by Save the Children in eastern DRC this year compared to last year highlights a humanitarian crisis in which women and girls are paying a heavy price. We urgently need funding to get lifesaving supplies to survivors who need them most.” He also stressed that the documented cases are “only a fraction of the reality.”
International scrutiny has intensified as the UN’s fact-finding mission, established by the Human Rights Council in February, released a report detailing abuses by all parties in the conflict. The mission found “reasonable grounds to believe that M23 members may have committed… the crimes against humanity of murder, severe deprivation of liberty, torture, rape and sexual slavery.” The report also faulted Rwanda for not only backing the M23 but for its armed forces’ direct involvement in violations on DRC territory, including “credible allegations concerning the covert presence of RDF personnel within M23.”
The Congolese military and its affiliated groups, such as the Wazalendo, were also implicated. The UN documented “deliberate killings of civilians” by the DRC military after in-fighting with Wazalendo, and a “pattern of widespread use of sexual violence and looting” by both the armed forces and Wazalendo during retreats in January and February. The recruitment of children under the age of 15 for combat and sexual purposes was also confirmed, with girls particularly vulnerable to exploitation.
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk was blunt in his assessment: “The atrocities described in this report are horrific. It is imperative to promptly and independently investigate all allegations of violations with a view to ensuring accountability and victims’ right to truth, justice and reparations, especially guarantees of non-repetition.” Turk also stressed the need for the swift creation of a commission of inquiry to continue the vital work of documenting abuses and pushing for accountability. “We owe no less to the untold number of victims,” he said.
Efforts to secure peace have so far faltered. Although the Congolese and Rwandan governments signed a peace deal in June 2025, and Congo signed a separate declaration of principles with the M23 in July — including a “permanent ceasefire” — violence has continued. The Associated Press noted that the M23 was not directly involved in the initial negotiations and has stated it cannot abide by the terms of the agreement. A final deal, facilitated by Qatar and aimed at a permanent ceasefire, missed its deadline, and as of early September 2025, there have been no public signs of talks between Congo and M23 on the final terms.
Meanwhile, Save the Children and other NGOs are scaling up emergency support in the face of overwhelming need. Their efforts include mobile health clinics, mental health and psychosocial care, survivor support groups, and community training to prevent exploitation. The group is also working to keep children in school by constructing classrooms, training teachers, and distributing learning materials — a small beacon of hope amid the chaos.
As the world’s attention shifts from crisis to crisis, the people of eastern Congo are left to endure unimaginable hardship. All parties to the conflict have a legal and moral obligation to protect civilians, yet the gulf between this duty and the lived reality grows wider by the day. The international community’s response — and its willingness to fund lifesaving aid and pursue justice for victims — may well determine whether the cycle of violence and suffering can finally be broken.