After raping teenaged Marie, three uniformed soldiers left her in a forest in Democratic Republic of Congo's South Kivu province, where sexual violence is widespread.
"With the war, it was impossible to get to a hospital," recalled the 17-year-old, between sobs brought on by the memory.
Once clashes in South Kivu had died down three months after the attack, Marie was able to seek treatment in the province's major town of Bukavu, where she shortly afterwards had a miscarriage.
"Women and children are increasingly the targets of attacks by militia. Sexual violence against them continues on a large scale and has reached a very alarming level," Iulia Motoc, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights for DRC, said in a statement released in Geneva last week.
http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=23480The Bush commitment to Africa.