OVER 35,000 CHILDREN VICTIMS OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN DRC IN FIRST NINE MONTHS OF 2025 – UNICEF

MOSCOW, Dec 30 (Bernama-Sputnik/RIA Novosti) -- More than 35,000 children were subjected to sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the first nine months of 2025, said the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), reported Sputnik/RIA Novosti. 

"In the first nine months of 2025, more than 35,000 cases of sexual violence against children were recorded across the country," the organisation said in a statement on Monday.

The statement noted that in 2024, approximately 45,000 cases of violence against children were recorded, accounting for almost 40 per cent of all reported cases of sexual violence.

This figure is three times higher than in 2022, UNICEF added.

The UN emphasised that the actual number of victims is likely much higher, as many are unable or feel ashamed to talk about such incidents.

"Most cases are concentrated in North Kivu, South Kivu, and Ituri, where conflict, displacement, and weakened protection systems drive extreme risk. But significant numbers are also documented in Kinshasa and the Kasai, where poverty, food insecurity, and school dropout heighten girls’ vulnerability to exploitation and early marriage," the statement read.

However, funding shortages complicate efforts to assist victims, the organisation said. 

The M23 movement, an armed rebel group in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), was formed in 2012 by Congolese Tutsi fighters.

In late January, M23 launched a large-scale offensive, escalating the conflict in the eastern DRC.

Between January and February, the rebels seized Goma and Bukavu, the provincial capitals of North and South Kivu.

From March to July, hostilities intensified, triggering mass displacement and worsening a food crisis in the region.

--BERNAMA-SPUTNIK/RIA NOVOSTI