Group of women sharing a meal at Panzi Hospital (Susan Bartels, HHI) THEME: GANG RAPE The majority of sexual assaults were described as gang rape, defined as rape by more than one perpetrator. Occasionally, there were so many assailants that the woman lost count or fell unconscious during the attack. “Because our village was at risk of being attacked, my husband and I were sleeping in our hiding place. During the night in question, 30 well-armed assailants dressed in military uniform attacked us. They killed my husband. They tied me up and the child I was carrying on my back fell to the ground. A total of nineteen assailants took turns raping me.” “I was walking on the road near my house when eight assailants approached. The eight men took turns raping me. There were three other women and they were also raped by the eight assailants. The men in our group were beaten almost to the point of death.” “The assailants attacked me while I was working in my fields. They forced me to leave with them. One assailant separated my legs and tied them to small trees. Another held down my chest while the other raped me. After a while, they switched roles so they could take turns raping me.” “We had already left our house in the village, so we were attacked in the forest. After looting everything we owned, twenty assailants raped me. I lost consciousness after being raped and it was some time before I began to see and hear again. Since the rape, I have had a sphincter problem and I now have fecal and urinary incontinence.” 22