Neema said she was a girl, only 11 years old, but they didn’t listen to her. Today she is pregnant by her rapists. Eight-year-old Grace trembles every time she sees a man dressed in a military uniform after the sexual assault she suffered in a forest while fleeing the war with her family. Nine-year-old Amani screamed, but no one came to help her. She was raped by the men who killed her father in front of her.
The names of the three girls have been changed to protect their identities. All of them live at the Sophie Center in Goma, which cares for minor victims of sexual violence in the area. And their stories are a reflection of the consequences of anti-childhood that the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has been going through in recent years.
Between January and September 2025, more than 35,000 cases of sexual violence against children were recorded, recently published. This figure is added to the nearly 45,000 cases documented during 2024 in the country. However, the United Nations Children’s Agency warns that the true magnitude of this drama “is much greater, since widespread stigma, fear of reprisals and limited access to services mean that many cases go unreported.”
“There were 10 men. They left as if nothing had happened”
“We were fleeing the war on the road. There were many people, children, women, the elderly… A group of uniformed men arrived and separated the children from the adults. They took me to a secluded place, I told them I was just a girl, but they didn’t listen to me,” recalls Neema, in a testimony collected by EL PAÍS in this shelter for minors, most of whom are victims of sexual assault.
My private parts still hurt, and I’m pregnant. I can’t have a child at this age
Neema, child survivor of sexual violence
“There were 10 men. They left as if nothing had happened. My private parts still hurt and, furthermore, I’m pregnant. I can’t have a child at this age. What future awaits me? I know I’m alive, but I no longer feel like a girl. I feel dirty, I don’t want to look in a mirror and I can’t stand anyone touching me. They have to stop this war now, even if it’s for the children,” she asks.
The cases are not limited to the areas immersed in the chronic conflict that has been hitting the east of the country for decades and which was revived in January 2025, when they are spreading throughout all the provinces of the DRC, explains Unicef. The organization warns that cases have suffered an alarming increase since 2022. Although war remains a determining factor, the report states that many children suffer sexual violence in their own homes and communities, “often by family members, neighbors or acquaintances.”
Grace was also fleeing by road, with a small backpack in which she carried her few belongings and surrounded by hundreds of people in the same situation, when shots were heard behind them. Uniformed men arrived and began searching their bags. “I was very afraid and I only squeezed my aunt’s hand. A man grabbed my arm and separated me from the group. My aunt screamed, but it was of no use,” he remembers.
“They took me behind some bushes. I was crying, it hurt a lot and I was afraid. I didn’t understand why they were doing that to me,” he explains. “I was alone for a long time until other people found me. Since then I’ve been peeing in bed again, I don’t sleep well, I don’t feel like playing and when I see a uniform I start shaking with fear.”
My father tried to explain to them, but they beat him and shot him. He didn’t get up. My mother screamed and I cried. A man took me to a room and called others
Amani, girl survivor of sexual violence
Unicef research confirms that approximately half of all cases reported nationally occur in just three provinces affected by the conflict: North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri. However, provinces such as Kinshasa or Kasai also record alarming figures. There, poverty, food insecurity and school dropouts increase girls’ exposure to exploitation and early marriage.
Amani lived with her parents and siblings. One morning, a group of uniformed men came to his house and said there were enemies hiding inside. “My father tried to explain to them, but they beat him and shot him. He didn’t get up. My mother was screaming and I was crying. A man took me to a room and called others.”
“One said in Swahili: ‘weye mufanye kwa nyuma miye kwa mbele na weye ku kinya’, which means: ‘you from behind, me from the front and this one from the mouth.’ I screamed, but no one came,” she remembers. Her mother. Since that day, Amani dreams that her father calls her. “I can’t concentrate at school and when there is noise I feel very afraid,” she explains.
A recovery center for invisible wounds
Gilbert Banyasize, a psychologist by training, is the founder of the Sophie Centre. He opened it six years ago with his wife, horrified by the increase in cases of minors, especially girls, traumatized by the war and the sexual violence suffered. Today, 56 girls and one boy live in the center, all between eight and 18 years old. In this time they have achieved the reintegration of another 39. “They are minors who have suffered extreme violence: gang rapes, sexual exploitation, kidnappings, abandonment after the violent death of their parents… Many of them fled when they found themselves alone, without any of their parents,” he explains to this newspaper.
Within the center, education, psychological assistance and three meals a day are provided, as well as clothing and hygiene kits. All this with very limited means. Banyasize explains that they only have permanent support, that of Doctors Without Borders (MSF), which provides care in case of illness. “We do not have any fixed financing. We survive thanks to many efforts, raising chickens, ducks and goats and occasional help from people of good will,” he explains.
In 2024, at the height of the war in Goma, they received 21 girls who had suffered sexual violence. All received medical care and support for three months, after which 16 were able to reunite with their families. “This is not an orphanage, it is a recovery center for invisible wounds, so that the child can return to school or be welcomed into a family,” he explains.
Difficult access to justice and cuts
These violations occur in a context that makes accountability difficult. This is revealed by Human Rights Watch (HRW), which documents 27 cases of sexual violence committed against girls and women in the east of the country by members of at least five non-state armed groups and the Congolese army. highlights the different barriers that make access to justice “remain difficult to reach for the majority of victims of sexual violence.” Among them, fear and the impossibility of identifying the aggressors, insecurity, lack of information, distrust in the judicial system and high costs. HRW highlights that, even when cases do make it to trial, language barriers, deficiencies in the military justice system, and serious victim and witness protection problems due to instability make it difficult to achieve justice.
In addition, the work of HRW and Unicef warns that they are affecting the care of survivors.
For example, HRW explains that those in early 2025 “abruptly stopped emergency medical care and other forms of support” for survivors. As a result, many became pregnant or contracted HIV, as clinics and hospitals in eastern DRC ran out of stock of post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) kits. These emergency treatments, which must be administered within 72 hours of the sexual assault, were largely provided by US-funded projects.
