The partnership between the University Hospital Bonn and the Panzi Hospital aims to assess the state of health of Congolese women who were victims of mass rape in the Congo and to determine possible treatment algorithms on the basis of an appropriate series of examinations and questionnaire-based studies.
Background:
The mass rape of women and young girls has been used as a means of warfare in the Congo and sexual violence still poses a major challenge in the Kivu region to this day. It is estimated that one in three women is affected by sexual violence. At the Panzi referral hospital in Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu, affected women receive gynaecological and psychological care and support. There is, however, a need to review the existing range of treatment and, if necessary, adapt it.
Activities:
-\tPreparing a questionnaire
-\tDrawing up the criteria for selecting participants
-\tConducting and evaluating the survey
-\tIssuing a recommendation for action and preparing a publication
Impact:
The aim of evaluating the health status of the affected women is to be able to offer female patients the best types of therapy. The preparation of an evaluation questionnaire and the identification of a suitable range of therapies can also be used in other countries where women and young girls are affected by sexual violence in a similar way as in South Kivu.