A study published by the American Journal of Public Health on Tuesday found that 1,100 women are raped every.single.day in the Congo.
That means that more than 400,000 women between the ages of 15 and 49 were raped in a 12-month period (2006-2007).
We've known for a long time that rape in the Congo was a problem, but this study puts the number of rapes at 26 times higher than a previous study done by the United Nations.
The study did not include the rape of men and boys, and did not include the rape of women younger than 15 or older than 49. I imagine that statistics for both of those age groups are high - particularly the "younger than 15" group.
Unfortunately, the study's statistics are probably already outdated. A recent Human Rights Watch report argued that rapes in the Congo more than doubled from 2008-2009. If the report is accurate, more than 1,100 women are raped every day.
The findings are profoundly sad. But the real question is - what can we do about it?
