Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières, or MSF) reports that workers at the international emergency medical aid organization treated victims of mass rape on New Year’s Day in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The group treated 33 women who were raped in the village of Fizi, South Kivu.

According to the United Nations, rape is often used as a weapon of war here. Some 15,000 women were raped in the eastern portion of the country in 2009, and the UN has named the DRC “rape capital of the world.” Often during this type of assault, the victim’s children or spouse are forced to watch.

Details from the organization follow.

The women were raped on the night
of 1st January in Fizi town and surroundings in a coordinated
attack. MSF medical teams treated 14 women at the hospital in
Fizi on 3rd January, and 19 the next day. In addition, two
severely wounded people were transferred to Baraka Hospital,
one with serious head injuries after being beaten with a rock,
the other having been shot in the chest.

“Women had
been restrained with ropes or beaten unconscious with the butt
of a gun before being attacked, some in front of their
children.” said Annemarie Loof, MSF head of mission in South
Kivu. “Up to four armed men were involved at a time and homes
and shops were looted.”

MSF provides specialised
medical care to women and girls who have been raped, including
post-exposure prophylaxis, which protects against the HIV virus
and other sexually transmitted infections. Many women are
afraid to seek treatment because of fear of being stigmatised
by their families, or the risk of further harassment by armed
groups.

“MSF is extremely concerned about the current
situation in and around Fizi. People are fleeing the area
fearing further violent attacks” said Loof.

In 2009
alone, MSF provided medical and psychosocial care for 5,600
rape victims in North and South
Kivu.