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CONGO, THE RAVAGES OF WAR Photographs and text by KATE HOLT / TAÏGA (329-50087) "They come every week now. Soldiers push down our door and force me to have sex with them in front of my children. My husband left us after the first time. He was scared they had given me aids. They threaten me with guns, saying they will kill my children if I don't. Once they forced my nine-year-old daughter"... Nita's quiet voice trails off. In the half-light of the feeding centre in Murhesa, Eastern Congo, the women's sad eyes and stories, each chilling and brutal as the last, are haunting. Hundreds of traumatised women like Nita have walked for miles to reach the sanctuary of this centre, their starving children barely Clinging to life. A violent war has plagued Eastern Congo since 1994, when Hutu extremists sought sanctuary in the region following their part in the Rwandan genocide, in which over half a million people were massacred. The new Rwandan government force, the RPA, followed them over the border, seeking revenge. Armies from neighbouring Uganda, Zimbabwe and Angola, along with numerous rebel groups, also became involved. Congo's government forces from Kinshasa have tried in vain to regain control of the vast area. A recent upsurge of fighting in the Northeast has focussed attention on The region, yet thousands of women continue to suffer in silence. "Women and girls are being forced to pay the price of this war. They are now so traumatised they will never have normal lives," a gynaecologist working in the region said. " For every woman who comes to me for help there are thousands more. For a child who has watched his mother and sisters raped, for the babies born because of rape, to the little girl raped so often she will never walk, our society is being crippled by this sexual violence." Congo - 27 images - added Jully 2003 |
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All images on this site are copyrighted by "Taïga Presse Images" and its represented photographers and may not be used in any form, even on the Internet, without a written licensing agreement. Unauthorized usage is a violation of the International Copyright Law and will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. TAïGA - 19, rue Martel 75010 Paris- France Tel: +33 (0) 1 55 30 05 00- Fax: +33 (0) 1 55 30 04 00- E-mail: info@taiga-press.com |
