Looks like you're in the UK! 🇬🇧

This is our US website. If you'd like to make a donation or sign-up for email updates please visit our UK website.

Stay in the US | Continue to the UK

Looks like you're in Germany! 🇩🇪

This is our US website. If you'd like to make a donation or sign-up for email updates please visit our Germany website.

Stay in the US | Continue to Germany

Women and Girls’ Bodies Become a Frontline in the DRC’s Mineral War

“They threatened to shoot and kill me if I did not comply, so I had no choice but to carry their luggage—one on my back and the other on my head.”
The DRC is one of the world’s most resource-rich countries, sitting atop an abundance of minerals used in many technology products — yet little of the wealth remains with the Congolese people. Foreign countries and armed rebel groups vie for control of the land’s resources, while committing war crimes against civilians. Near the frontlines, sexual violence is rampant, and women bear the brunt of it. Senior United Nations officials have warned that all parties involved in the conflict systematically use sexual violence as a tactic of war against civilians.