Calling the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) the "rape capital of the world," top UN official Margot Wallstrom urged the Security Council to end impunity for the perpetrators of such crimes.

"If women continue to suffer sexual violence, it is not because the law is inadequate to protect them, but because it is inadequately enforced," she told the 15-member council.

"Women have no rights, if those who violate their rights go unpunished," added the UN special representative tasked with combating sexual violence against women and children in conflicts.

She said ending impunity for sexual violence was a key part of the 15-member Council's broader mandate to shepherd situations "from might to right, from rule of war to rule of law, from bullets to ballots."

She made the remarks as she briefed council members on her recent visit to DRC.

Sexual violence against women remained a dominant feature of the conflict in eastern DRC, Wallstrom, a Swede, said, describing it as "the rape capital of the world."

"Women (there) are still not safe, under their own roofs, in their own beds, when night falls," she added.
The UN refugee agency UNHRC said last week that 14 women are sexually assaulted every day on average in DRC.

During the first three months of this year, 1,244 women were sexually assaulted throughout DR Congo, according to UN data.

Over the past 14 years, through some of the country's most violent recent history, at least 200,000 cases of sexual violence have been recorded.

Aid agencies have frequently expressed concern at the degree of impunity and the lack of justice for victims, especially in DRC's strife-torn eastern regions.

More than one-third of the recorded cases of sexual assault were in North and South Kivu provinces in the east, which host some 1.4 million internally displaced people.

The 20,000-strong UN mission in DRC (MONUC) has been trying to combat the scourge through a greater presence on the ground, escorting women going to market or fetching firewood or water, developing early warning systems, and working with local mayors.

Wallstrom, a former vice-president of the European Commission who took up her post in February, said ending impunity for rapes was one of her five priorities along with empowering women, mobilizing political leadership, increasing recognition of rape as a weapon of war, and ensuring a more coherent response from the UN system.

(REUTERS)