Clinton Offers $17M in U.S. Aid to Combat Sex Crimes in Congo

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton witnessed the horrific living conditions that many Congolese women and children are enduring in their embattled country on Tuesday and was attentive to their stories about rape and sexual violence. She announced during her visit that the U.S. is extending $17 million in aid targeting sexual brutality.

AP via Google News:

Her offer came after a harrowing meeting with victims of violent gang rapes in a crowded refugee camp on the outskirts of Goma where 18,000 men, women and children have sought shelter from revenge attacks raging in the countryside.

“It is almost impossible to describe the level of suffering and despair,” a shaken Clinton said afterward.

Under the shadow of an active volcano, Clinton toured the Magunga Camp, a dust-choked warren of tents and tin-lined huts, listening as officials and residents of the camp described the horrors of gang rapes and a litany of deaths from malnutrition, malaria, tuberculosis and diarrhea.

Picking her way through a path littered with volcanic rock, Clinton said she “wanted to see for myself what was happening here.”

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AP / Roberto Schmidt, pool

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton jokes with patients and staff of the Heal Africa clinic in Goma, Congo, on Tuesday.