Church leaders say rape is used as weapon of war in Congo

Published: 2008-03-18

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (CNS) -- Women are afraid to work alone in the fields in many parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where rape is used as a weapon of war, said religious leaders and Catholic aid workers. Leaders of the religious congregations working in eastern Congo's Katanga province said they "cannot remain silent" in the face of "all kinds of violence, repeated cases of sexual abuse, and the total lack of respect for the lives of our brothers and sisters." Sexual violence "has escalated, reaching alarming rates, and is considered by many experts to be the real weapon in this war that obliges the people to leave the land they live on," the major superiors said in an early March statement. "It seems clear" that rape is being used as a "terrible weapon" to "annihilate an entire population," they said.

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