“For all these years… I really feel weaker”

March 30th, 2009

G. is 43 years old. Today, she has come to the women’s clinic, part of an outreach care programme run by Médecins Sans Frontières.

“During the 1994 war, people in Masisi district were killed by machetes; others managed to escape. One day, when I was on my way to the fields with some other women – it was in 1996 – armed men stopped us, beat us and raped us. Some of the women fell in a ditch. I fell too and I am still limping today. Three of the women who were raped at the same time as me died a week later because of the injuries they had sustained.

“Since then, I have had pain in my abdomen. For all these years… I really feel weaker, I don’t go to the fields anymore. I often have headaches and I sleep badly. And when I see armed men, I am afraid and I feel sick.

“When I was raped, I was a widow. Later on – eight years ago – I got married once again to a widower who welcomed me and wanted to support me. Today we are old and our children take care of us.

“But lately, my husband has started drinking a lot. He has changed his mind about the rape and now says that I am a prostitute. He has become aggressive towards me.”

After a long consultation at the MSF clinic, G. leaves with iron tablets, pain killers and an appointment at Masisi hospital to receive psychological support.