Since 1998, a brutal war has been raging in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Over 4 million people have died and there has been an uncountable number of casualties. Tens of thousands of women and girls have been systematically kidnapped, raped, mutilated and tortured by soldiers from both foreign militias and the Congolese army.

In October 2010, the world marked the 10th anniversary of the signing of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on the participation and protection of women in conflict and peacekeeping. Yet women continue to be raped and physically abused in armed conflict, in countries such as the DRC, with little protection from peacekeepers, even after the adoption of UNSCR 1325. 

The UK is a permanent member of the Security Council and so bears a particular responsibility to implement its resolutions. This petition asks the Rt. Hon. William Hague, the Secretary of State for Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs to take stronger steps towards the implementation of UN Security Council Resolutions 1325 and 1820.

The rape and killing of women in Congo must stop now.