"Dr. Mukwege Fights Back"

This article by Dr. Denis Mukwege, Medical Director of the Panzi Hospital in the Democratic Republic of Congo, originally appeared in On the Ground.

For the past 16 years at the Panzi Hospital in the Democratic Republic of Congo, my staff and I have been treating women who have been victimized by sexual violence, which has been systematically used as a weapon of war in the armed conflict that has ravaged our country.  Rape is one of the most deadly weapons of war, destroying families and communities and future generations, as well as the women brutally targeted.  Last year I had some hope that the situation was improving, but since the beginning of this year the security situation has again deteriorated and victims of sexual violence have started coming to the hospital again in great numbers.