Thousands of children subject to sexual violence in eastern Congo, UNICEF says
https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/thousands-children-subject-sexual-violence-eastern-congo-unicef-says-2025-04-11/
On Friday, April 11, 2025, the United Nations Children’s Agency stated that children have been more than a third of all victims in the 10,000 rape and sexual violence cases that are occurring in the Eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). In Geneva, the UNICEF spokesperson, James Elder, stated that the rapes and other forms of sexual violence were happening every 30 minutes. Elder also said that these crimes were being used as weapons in the M23 conflict. Via data collected by people in the field, Elder showed that 35-45% of victims were under 18 years old. James Elder said that funding shortages are halting the ability to help survivors of sexual violence. Currently, 127 rape survivors in a hospital in Goma do not have access to medical kits that could prevent HIV infection. Due to the United States foreign aid cuts, many humanitarian aid programs in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
This article is important because it explains a different part of the conflict in the DRC than only the armed encounters. It also brings attention to the funding shortages in the country that are preventing hospitals from giving patients the emergency care they need. This will also limit the number of doctors in the country because they will not be able to pay all of them for their work.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo should look to other countries for medical funding so that they can treat their patients and pay their medical staff. The DRC should also look to other countries for military power to protect their Eastern region and fight M23 rebels.
This article directly connects to what we learn in class by discussing negative rights. Negative rights are civil/political rights that include free speech, freedom of religion, equal protection under the law, and freedom from torture. This article discusses the group M23 as using sexual violence as a weapon of war, which is another form of torture.