INVESTIGATION OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN EASTERN DRC For instance, sexual violence survivors reporting civilian perpetrators were more likely to report rape NOS as opposed to gang rape, sexual slavery or rape in the presence of family members. Additionally, civilian perpetrators were less likely to attack in the fields or in the forest and were more likely to attack in “other” locations including the perpetrators home, on the road, in the market or in a public building. The data presented here provide strong evidence that the number of reported civilian rapes is on the rise in South Kivu (Figure 7 -9). With a 17-fold increase in reported cases of civilian rape and statistically significant declines in the types of rape known to be perpetrated almost exclusively by armed combatants (gang rape and sexual slavery), there appears to be a shift emerging in the nature of sexual violence within South Kivu during the period studied. Collectively, these findings indicate a kind of “normalization” of sexual violence among the community as a result of widespread rape during the conflict. There is some prior recognition that the number of rapes committed by civilians in DRC is increasing(55, 56) and local community members in South Kivu also report increasing numbers of civilian perpetrated rape.(57) In focus groups, Congolese men acknowledged that rape had become a norm for young males who had grown up during the conflict in Eastern DRC.(57) Many of these men also carefully stress that sexual violence was not a Congolese problem until foreign militias introduced it during the conflict(57). Congolese women similarly report their experiences of increased numbers of rape by local community members since the beginning of the war.(57) Thus, after more than a decade of conflict in South Kivu, all constructive social and economic mechanisms that should be protecting civilians from sexual violence have been eroded, creating an environment where civilian rape is increasingly becoming a common feature of daily life. Young boys playing a game at Panzi Hospital (Justin Ide, Harvard University News Office) Such civilian adoption of sexual violence is quite disturbing since it may well have long-term implications that will not be easily reversed. This rise in civilian rape speaks to the reversal of a 39