Today, Congolese women are still suffering. As fighting between the M23 rebel movement and the Congolese army intensified in 2024, civilians continue to bear the brunt of a long-running war marked by mass displacement, sexual violence, and famine. The roots of the conflict go back to the country’s independence in 1960 and the Rwandan genocide of 1994, which brought a massive influx of refugees into eastern Congo. Ethnic tensions, combined with the region’s immense mineral wealth have fueled comp