An average of 48 women and girls are raped every hour in the Democratic Republic of Congo

A study has found that 400,000 females aged 15-49 were raped over a 12-month period in 2006 and 2007. Sexual violence has long been a dominant feature of the continuing conflict in eastern DR Congo. The highest numbers of rapes were found in war-ravaged North Kivu, where an average of 67 women out of 1,000 have been raped at least once. However, the report said that sexual violence was also widespread outside the conflict zones of eastern DR Congo. The study is in line with earlier reports that found sexual violence was spreading outside of war zones and into DR Congo’s civilian society.