Sexual violence in urban environments: example in the city of Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Introduction: Sexual violence, which is becoming increasingly recurrent in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is a public health problem in Lubumbashi. Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of sexual violence, the circumstances of occurrence and risk environments. Method: This was a retrospective, cross-sectional, descriptive study based on a document review of 116 female victims between the ages of 2 to 34 years attending the Kampemba General Hospital in Lubumbashi in 2013, generally for forensic examination. Results: The prevalence of sexual violence in Lubumbashi was 127 per 100,000 in the absence of any armed conflict. The frequency of sexual violence in Kampemba General Hospital was 3.35%. Victims of sexual violence were mostly young people (94%) aged 14 to 17 years (over 60% of cases), while the perpetrators of sexual violence were predominantly male (100%), civilians (98%) and adults (86.2%). 24% of pregnancies were observed among the victims and nearly 72% of cases of mental distress. Only 19.18% of cases of sexual violence were reported to the police. Conclusion: Gender-based sexual violence, which constitutes a denial of human rights and health remains a real public health problem in the DRC in general and especially in Lubumbashi.