Dr Denis Mukwege Advocates to End Impunity in DRC

Dr Denis Mukwege. Medical Director of Panzi Hospital in Bukavu – South Kivu [DRC]. 30% of his clinic focuses on treating victims of rape.

In an interview held in French that Dr Denis Mukwege, founder and director of the hospital of Panzi in Bukavu of South Kivu province in Eastern Congo, gave to France24, he indicates that he is surprised that until now no Congolese official has so far approached him or his family to find out how he was attacked and closely escaped an attempt of assassination on October 25, 2012.

In the same interview, he also explains that he decided to start advocating for stopping impunity in 2008, mainly because he had noticed that his only work of gynecologist was not addressing the symptoms he was confronted with professionally assisting Congolese raped women and girls.

In fact, he had started seeing children he had helped to deliver from the wombs of raped women becoming themselves victims of sexual crimes, not once but several times. It was at that time he came to the conclusion that for his work to have any sense, he had to change strategies by addressing the root causes of the problem: impunity of those responsible of committing such crimes.

To listen to the full interview [only in French], please click here.