A new report lays bare an entrenched epidemic of sexual violence against boys, girls, and disabled children in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with more than 35,000 cases recorded in just nine months.
The scale of abuse has been described as endemic, systemic, and rapidly worsening, according to a UNICEF report released today.
It warns that sexual violence against children is no longer confined to front lines or remote war zones but is being documented in communities across every province of the vast central African nation.
While years of armed conflict remain a powerful driver, the data show the crisis has deepened sharply since 2022, becoming a daily reality for tens of thousands of children.
Nationwide figures compiled from protection and gender-based violence service providers reveal that more than 35,000 cases of sexual violence against children were recorded in the first nine months of 2025 alone.
The year before, nearly 45,000 cases were documented, accounting for almost 40 per cent of all reported sexual violence nationwide, a figure three times higher than in 2022.
UNICEF warns these numbers likely represent only a fraction of the true toll, as fear, stigma, insecurity and the collapse of basic services prevent countless survivors from ever coming forward.
Adolescent girls make up the largest and fastest-growing group of survivors nationwide, but boys are also subjected to sexual violence, even though they remain significantly under-represented in reported cases due to shame and social taboos.
Children with disabilities face some of the gravest risks of all, with physical, social and communication barriers both increasing their vulnerability to abuse and blocking their access to care, justice and protection.
Behind the statistics are harrowing stories of children left physically broken and families pushed to the brink.
UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said: ‘Case workers describe mothers walking for hours to reach clinics with daughters who can no longer walk after being assaulted.
‘Families say that fear of stigma and retaliation often keeps them from reporting the abuse.
‘Stories like these are repeated across provinces, exposing an entrenched crisis driven by insecurity, inequality, and weak support systems.’
In the report, Sephora, an 18-year-old, describes how she was raped by armed men after violence broke out in her village.
She said: ‘While we were escaping with other girls from school, we crossed paths with bandits in the forest, and they raped us. They left us there, and we had no other choice but to keep walking. We could barely move because of the pain.’
She later found refuge with an aunt, met her husband, and started a family.
Another survivor, Happy, 18, also spoke about her hellish rape at the hands of four armed men who dragged her into a forest.
She said: ‘I did not know how to defend myself, and they told me that if I screamed, they would kill me. I could only endure the pain, with tears in my eyes.’
La Reine, 17, became pregnant when she was raped at 16. She explained: ‘That evening, I was coming back from choir around 5pm when a man pulled me into the forest and raped me. There was blood everywhere, and I could barely walk.
‘When I arrived home, I was beaten by my parents, who said I had dishonoured the family.’
The report shows distinct patterns across the country, revealing how violence thrives under different pressures.
The highest concentration of cases is found in North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri, scarred by years of fighting, mass displacement and the collapse of protection systems.
Yet significant numbers are also emerging in places far from conflict, including the capital Kinshasa and the Kasai region, where grinding poverty, food insecurity, and school dropout rates leave girls especially vulnerable to exploitation and early marriage.
Separate UN-verified data from conflict-affected regions underline how sharply the crisis has intensified.
Recorded cases of sexual violence against children were already alarmingly high in 2022 and 2023, before surging by nearly 30 per cent in 2024.
Preliminary figures from early 2025 suggest the situation remains acute, with cases reported in the first six months potentially amounting to more than 80 per cent of the total documented for the whole of last year.
For survivors, the consequences are devastating and long-lasting. Many suffer severe physical injuries, unwanted pregnancies and heightened risks of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.
The emotional toll can be equally crushing, with children experiencing fear, anxiety and depression, only to face rejection and exclusion from their own families and communities.
Despite this, access to lifesaving support remains desperately limited.
UNICEF says it is working alongside the Congolese government and partner organisations to provide survivor-centred care, including clinical treatment, psychosocial support, safe spaces and case management.
Between 2022 and 2024, the number of child survivors assisted by UNICEF rose by 143 per cent, reaching more than 24,200 children in the most affected provinces last year. Yet even these efforts are now under threat.
Insecurity and global funding cuts have forced many UNICEF-supported safe spaces, mobile clinics and community protection programmes to scale back or shut down entirely.
By mid-2025, just 23 per cent of gender-based violence interventions were funded, down from 48 per cent in 2022, leaving hundreds of thousands of children at risk of losing access to critical support, including an estimated 300,000 in conflict-hit eastern regions.
UNICEF is calling on the Congolese government, armed groups, civil society and international partners to act urgently, demanding an end to sexual violence against children.
It also says stronger survivor services tailored to children’s needs, tougher accountability for perpetrators and sustained investment in prevention and protection are crucial.
Russell said: ‘Addressing this crisis of sexual violence requires an immediate response and adherence to international law in conflict settings. Perpetrators must be held accountable, and women and children must have access to protection and support.’
As the numbers continue to climb and funding continues to fall, the report warns that without urgent action, thousands more children across the Democratic Republic of the Congo face a future marked by violence, silence and abandonment.
