In the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), rising levels of violence have shifted a very precarious security context into a deadly conflict. The intensified fighting has led to massive population displacement. According to the International Organization for Migration, the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the DRC has reached nearly seven million people.
HEAL Africa and PHR are working to facilitate safe documentation of the traumatic sexual violence children have experienced.
Widespread violence, including killings, destruction, rape, and other forms of sexual violence, has been committed with impunity. Communities in North Kivu, eastern DRC, where Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) works, have been particularly affected by devastating levels of conflict-related sexual violence. In 2023, more than 90,000 cases were reported. Children have not been spared, and those who have survived traumatizing violence are in urgent need of support and care. Many have been orphaned, finding themselves responsible for the care of younger siblings, or have been separated from their families altogether.
Children are among the millions of people who have sought shelter in IDP camps. Bulengo IDP camp, near Goma, is home to about 90,000 people living in tents and makeshift buildings. The camp itself has not been spared from the direct impacts of conflict: in May, the camp was bombed, reportedly killing at least nine people.
To provide care to survivors of conflict-related sexual violence in North Kivu, PHR has partnered with clinicians at HEAL Africa, which serves as a one-stop center for survivors to access medical, psychosocial, and legal support to the most vulnerable populations in the DRC.
In 2023, PHR and HEAL Africa created a child-friendly interviewing facility dedicated to supporting child survivors of sexual violence living in the camp. Drawing on evidence-based best practices for designing child-friendly spaces in humanitarian settings; guidance from key interview protocols for child survivors of sexual violence; and the expertise of multi-sectoral stakeholders in North Kivu and the DRC, HEAL Africa and PHR are working to pilot this initiative to facilitate safe documentation of the traumatic sexual violence these children have experienced. The space continues to be a source of ongoing support for survivors while also serving as a space where evidence can be safely collected, with hopes that justice can eventually be served.
For over a decade, PHR’s Program on Sexual Violence in Conflict Zones has forged partnerships with professionals from the health, police, legal, and justice sectors to build best practices for forensic documentation of sexual violence and successful prosecution of and reparations for these cases. In doing so, we build multidisciplinary, survivor-centered networks that help break down barriers to justice for child survivors of sexual violence. Read more about PHR’s work on children’s rights.