A new hope for women who survive violence in Congo | International Rescue Committee (IRC)

My name is Viviane Maroy Bora. I am a psychosocial counselor for the International Rescue Committee in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where I work with women and girls who have experienced violence, helping them to recover.

You may have read about Congo in the news. My country offers great beauty but also great difficulties to those who live here, joy alternating with pain, peace with war. 

Unfortunately, there has been war for 20 years now, and we, the women and girls of Congo, too often bear the brunt of this conflict. But we are also the ones cultivating the land, the ones nurturing our families, and the ones striving to bring about lasting change.

I work with women and girls to ensure that they come forward to get help—to talk about the terrible intimate violations they have experienced—and to receive the care, respect and support they deserve. 

I also train and mentor women in communities to provide this same care to their mothers, sisters, daughters and friends............

Congo is often described as one of the worst places in the world to be a woman, because of its high rates of maternal mortality and sexual assault and other serious threats to women and girls. Though they face grave dangers and obstacles every day, the women of Congo are overcoming them – transforming not only their own lives but those of their children, families, and communities. Photo: Sinziana Demian/IRC

FULL ARTICLE HERE: A new hope for women who survive violence in Congo | International Rescue Committee (IRC)