DR Congo rape crisis 'spreading'

Kinshasa, 16 April-(ANA)-More than half of the victims of rape in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo were gang raped by armed men, a report says.

For years rape has been used against women in the region but the report reveals the scale of the problem.

More than 4,000 rape victims were interviewed over a four-year period.

The authors of the report, commissioned by Oxfam, say there is also evidence suggesting a dramatic rise in the number of rapes by civilians.

It comes at a time when there is debate over how long the United Nations peacekeeping force should remain in DR Congo.

The extensive research, carried out by the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, in the eastern South Kivu province produced shocking findings.

It shows that 60% of the rape victims were gang raped by armed men and more than half of the assaults took place in the victims' homes.(ANA)

FA/ANA/16 April 2010-------