The main form of violence people report remains sexual violence. Physical and psychological violence are also frequently reported. Among adult women aged between 20 and 44, more than 10% said they had been raped in the five months preceding the survey, including more than 17% in some camps. The incidence of sexual violence was also high among teenage girls (more than 4% of teenage girls aged 13 to 19 on average) and women aged over 45.
“The percentage of displaced people reporting episodes of violence during the survey period is similar to that in 2023,” says Erica Simons, epidemiologist at Epicentre. “We continue to observe a very high rate of reported cases of violence among the population in the four camps, particularly sexual violence.”
“Living conditions in displaced people’s sites remain extremely precarious. By fleeing the conflict in North Kivu, hundreds of thousands of displaced people have lost their usual means of subsistence,” continues Simons. “They no longer have access to the fields they used to cultivate and are dependent on irregular and inadequate food aid, while they continue to suffer daily violence linked to the ongoing conflict.”
MSF teams are present in most of the camps, providing general healthcare, health promotion, treatment for malnutrition, and care for victims and survivors of sexual violence. Every day, our teams witness the acute vulnerability of women, children and adolescents, while Goma is now surrounded by front lines, protection mechanisms in the camps are rare, and the socio-economic insecurity of displaced people is increasing.
Fonte original msf.org
