” Leave evil deeds and defend the oppressed.”
[May.22.2023] Reuters reported on the 20th (local time) that sex crimes are rampant in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where violent conflicts between rebels and government forces continue. According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICE), the number of reported sex crimes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s eastern province of North Kivu during the first quarter of this year increased by more than a third compared to the same period last year.
In 2022, more than 38,000 sex crimes were reported in North Kivu. Estimating the monthly average, in the first three months of this year, the number of sex crimes in North Kivu State far exceeds 12,000. Doctors Without Borders (MSF), which is actively working in the area, announced that more than 670 women who were victims of sex crimes were treated in three places in eastern Democratic Congo between the 17th to the 30th of last month.
This is equivalent to treating nearly 50 women sex crime victims every day. More than half of them were assaulted by armed men, but the actual number of victims may be higher, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said.
Continual violence in DRC is in fact the aftermath of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide, in which Hutus killed 800,000 minority Tutsi and moderate Hutu. In particular, in the mineral-rich eastern part, the Tutsi rebel M23 and 120 armed groups, including the Democratic Military Alliance (ADF), are actively causing instability in the area.
According to the United Nations, more than 1 million refugees have been displaced from this armed conflict in the Democratic Congo alone, and 26 million are suffering from starvation. The news agency added that women who came out of the refugee camp to find firewood or food are being attacked by rebel militants as well as government forces. (Source: Yonhap News Agency)
Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong. Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow. (Isaiah 1:16-17)
God, may You protect women and the vulnerable who are suffering from the civil war and violence in the Democratic Congo. May You break Satan’s scheme of controlling this land with the power of sin and death. May You bring those who take advantage of the instability of the country to satisfy their flesh desire to repentance. May they know that the end of sin is eternal judgment and help them to turn from their evil deeds and come to help those who are vulnerable. May those who groan in famine and crime call Your name and pray those sick and broken bodies and souls be recovered in love and protection in You who gave up the only Son for them.
Prayer 24·365
prayer@prayer24365.org
