Elisabeth Roesch
Elisabeth Roesch has been working for CARE in Goma for one year. As CARE's gender and advocacy expert she helps abused women. She has previously worked in Uganda and Tanzania.
In Congo war, some wounds are hard to see
Another trip to new displacement sites in Goma brings more stories and more questions about what people really need in times of conflict. Some needs are evident - shelter, clean water, food, clothes - but others are harder to see and therefore harder to respond to. That is certainly the case when it comes to responding to sexual violence. In a church in Goma, there are more than 1,000 people gathered, having fled their homes in the past few weeks. Since our last visit, a few hundred more people have arrived. The other sites I have been to in Goma are smaller, with a few families from the same town or village moving together and setting themselves up in the same site. But in this church I find people from all over and from farther away, Masisi and western Rutshuru, and many of them came alone. ...
Rape destroys Congolese families
I've been in the DRC for a year, working with women who have experienced abuse and violence and talking to them about the impact that this has had on their lives. Thanks to numerous news articles and increasing international attention, the horrific nature of sexual violence here in Congo is becoming known in the world. But nothing has really prepared me for the stories that I have heard, and each time I speak with women, I am saddened to find that there is no end to the terrible experiences of rape, torture and mutilation. ...
