DRC: Rape victims hope new leaders will halt violence

BUKAVU, 2 August (IRIN) - Large numbers of women took part in Sunday's elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo's South Kivu Province in the hope that the new leaders would clamp down on the violence perpetrated by militants, say civil society organisations. One of these voters was Naomie Kisenyi, 38. In 2003, three hooded armed men in civilian clothes raped and beat her in a forest near Bukavu, the provincial capital. "It is difficult to talk about my experience as it is so humiliating," she said on Sunday at a Bukavu polling station. She was admitted to Bukavu's Panzi Hospital and has recovered after lengthy treatment. However, every six months she is tested for HIV. "So far, thank God, the tests have proved negative," she said. She still does not know the identity of her attackers.

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