Threat of HIV/Aids from rapes in the DR Congo

An international care organisation has reported more than 400 cases of sexual violence against women in North Kivu each month in the troubled Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The country is in the grip of civil unrest, which has seen thousands of people arrived displaced and deaths from fighting.

Conflict has flared up between forces backed by Uganda and Rwanda and government groups supported by Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe.

Forces claiming to represent the Tutsi community say they are under attack from Hutu rebels who are believed to be responsible for the genocide in Rwanda.

Civil war has also led to sexual violence of "epidemic proportions", which has left women vulnerable to HIV/Aids, said CARE International's gender and advocacy advisor Elisabeth Roesch.

She added: "It has been said that it's more dangerous to be a woman than a soldier in the DRC right now - that couldn't be more true."

CARE is providing medical and psychosocial support in the heavily affected area of Birambizo, North Kivu.

News brought to you by Global Health TV, covering the issues of health in the developing world.