A report from Bukavu, Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo by Dr Dieudonné Alimasi Bisibo, Amma4Africa DRC

In eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, rape is not a rare event or an isolated crime. For many women and girls, it is a daily fear and, for far too many, a lived reality.

Rape does not only hurt the body. It breaks lives.

Women who survive sexual violence often lose everything at once: their sense of safety, their health, their family, their place in the community. Many are rejected by their husbands or families. Some are forced to raise children born of rape alone, in deep poverty and shame that is not theirs to carry. Others are unable to farm, work, or care for themselves because of trauma, illness, or stigma. What should be a path toward healing often becomes a struggle just to survive.

Photo: Mothers with children born of rape, that received treatment for their trauma

Why rape is so widespread in Kivu

For decades, the Kivu region has been trapped in violent conflict. Armed groups, militias, foreign rebels, and sometimes even state forces have used rape as a weapon. It is used to terrorize communities, to drive people off their land, to destroy families, and to silence entire villages.

Women and girls are the main targets. But men and boys are also victims—often suffering in silence.

Justice is rare. Many survivors are too afraid to speak out. Courts are far away or do not function. Corruption, threats, and lack of medical and legal services make justice almost unreachable, especially in rural areas.

 A scale of suffering that is hard to grasp

Over the past twenty years, hundreds of thousands of people in Kivu are believed to have survived rape or sexual violence. At the same time, millions have died since the conflict began in the 1990s—through violence, disease, hunger, and displacement.

As a result, trauma is everywhere. Post-traumatic stress is not the exception here, it is the norm!

 

What we are doing 

 

The numbers are overwhelming—but people are not numbers.

With Amma4Africa teams working in North and South Kivu, we treat as many people as we can. In 2025 alone, 270,000 children and adults receive trauma support alongside malaria prevention through our programs.

The most important message we want to share is this: Trauma can heal.

With proper medical care, psychological support, and community-based treatment, survivors can begin to feel safe again. They can sleep. They can think. They can love. They can hope.

Using the PC Remedy for Rape and Sexual Abuse, along with remedies for sexually transmitted infections, we support women and girls in reclaiming their bodies and their lives.

 

Photo: First training of volunteers in Bukavu (2013)

Below are a few anonymous stories from survivors we have supported. Names and details have been changed to protect their safety.

Survivors’ voices: before and after care

• A married woman attacked by armed men lived in constant fear and emotional numbness. She had constant intrusive thoughts and felt emotional distance from her husband and other men. “I’m emotionally blocked.”. After treatment, she reported emotional relief, renewed affection toward her husband, and a significant reduction in trauma-related thoughts.
• A mother with a child born of rape by multiple perpetrators was expelled from her home by her husband. Before care, she experienced severe fear, flashbacks, inability to move freely, and suicidal thoughts. She described reliving the rape “like a film.” After treatment, her joy returned, fear diminished, flashbacks stopped, and she regained the ability to move about freely and safely.
• A woman raped by soldiers suffered from constant rumination and nightmares every night about the assault. After treatment, the nightmares stopped and her mind became calm again.
• Another survivor stopped menstruating after the assault and lived in a state of sadness, fear, crying spells, and persistent anxiety—especially around soldiers. After treatment, her emotional stability improved, fear reduced, her sense of joy returned, and she started to regularly menstruate again.
• An adult survivor reported constant, distressing thoughts about the rape prior to treatment. Following care, these thoughts reduced substantially.
• An abandoned woman with a child born of rape suffered from a sexually transmitted infection, high blood pressure, anger, vertigo, and deep resentment toward her child. After treatment, her infection was cured, her physical symptoms subsided, intrusive thoughts decreased, and she began to feel love and connection toward her child.
• A single mother struggled to care for a child born of rape. Before care, she experienced fear, emotional numbness, and hatred toward the pregnancy and child. After treatment, trauma-related thoughts decreased significantly, though she still faces challenges in providing care due to poverty and lack of support.
• A woman rejected by her husband struggled with illness, anger, and resentment toward her child. After treatment, her health improved and she began to feel love and connection again.
• An teenage girl suffered from a sexually transmitted infection and intense hatred toward men, seeing them as enemies. After care, the infection resolved, and she reported being able to relate and collaborate with men again without fear.
• After being raped multiple times, a woman gave birth to an unwanted child. She experienced repeated illness, untreated infection, and emotional detachment from her child, whom she cared for only out of obligation. Her husband refused to accept the child. After treatment, her health improved, intrusive thoughts diminished, and she developed genuine affection and care for her child.
• A woman who got pregnant after rape was expelled from her home with her child. She frequently fell ill, struggled with basic caregiving, and at times resented her child due to extreme hardship. After treatment, her infection was cured, her thinking patterns improved, and her bond with her child strengthened.
• A survivor suffered chronic illness, abdominal pain, visible physical deterioration, and hatred toward men. After treatment, her physical health improved markedly, and trauma-related thoughts disappeared.

Only a traumatized person can inflict trauma on others. To stop this ongoing tragedy, both rapists and their victims need treatment. See also the video Rebels that got back to their senses.

Photos: A rebel fighter treated for trauma

Video on Rape Trauma

Short History by Harry van der Zee

PC Resonances were introduced in the Democratic Republic of Congo at the end of 2008. A group of nurses was trained not only to treat conditions such as malaria, typhoid, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS, but also to work with various Trauma Resonances.

At that time, after the military assured us that there were no rebels in the area, we were able to visit Bukavu. Following an hours-long journey along an extremely poor and mountainous road, we arrived in a city that was home to thousands of refugees.

That visit remains one of the most memorable experiences of my life. The stories shared by women who had been raped and were struggling to survive in the city were heartbreaking. Many had been driven from their villages; some had been abandoned by their husbands, while others had lost them to the same men who raped and mutilated them.

As unforgettable as the suffering these women had endured—and in many cases were still enduring—was the remarkable healing they reported after receiving treatment for their trauma. One woman expressed it most powerfully when she said, “I’m no longer a slave of the past.”

That women who had undergone such extreme atrocities were able to heal and once again envision a future for themselves was deeply moving. It also demonstrated the profound healing potential of the PC Resonances created by Peter Chappell.

A short video titled Rape Trauma, filmed in Bukavu during our first visit, can still be viewed here: https://arhf.ngo/trauma-relief/

 

Healing is not only medical

Healing does not stop with treatment. Women who have been abandoned need a way to survive and rebuild their lives. That is why Dr Bisibo aims to create small sewing and training centres, where survivors can learn skills over six months and, when possible, receive a sewing machine to start earning their own income. Dignity grows when a woman can provide for herself and her children.

A call to care

These stories show both the horror of rape and the power of compassionate care. Trauma treatment does more than ease symptoms—it restores dignity, rebuilds families, and opens the door to a future beyond violence.

But many survivors are still alone. Poverty, stigma, and lack of support remain heavy burdens, especially for women raising children born of rape. They must not be forgotten.

To support Dr Bisibo and all volunteers working in Kivu and other war-torn places that bring healing where it is most needed—you can donate here.

Your support helps turn survival into life.