“Women and children are paying dearly for the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo,” said Mathilde Muhindo. “Sexual violence in eastern provinces should be seen in its proper contexts – a war within a war. A war against women.”

Muhindo, once a member of Congo’s parliament, works to support rape victims in South Kivu, in eastern Congo, which has been ravaged by armed conflict for over 10 years, up to today. She draws attention to the widespread and systematic use of sexual violence by government troops and armed groups – including sexual slavery, gang rape and mutilation – and to the disastrous consequences for the victims.

As director of the Olame Centre, a nongovernmental women’s rights organization, Muhindo provides urgently needed psychological and practical assistance to victims of abuse and empowers women to fight against pervasive discrimination and sexual violence. To address the crisis – tens of thousands of women and girls have been raped – she also founded a parliamentary committee to investigate rape as a weapon of war.

In partnership with Human Rights Watch and other groups, Muhindo has pressed the European Union, the United States, and others to address ongoing atrocities in eastern Congo. She led a coalition of local women’s organizations that advocated successfully for a comprehensive law on sexual violence. Muhindo has faced death threats for her work, but refuses to be silenced. Human Rights Watch honors Muhindo for her unfaltering dedication to the safety, health, and rights of eastern Congo’s most vulnerable, and often forgotten, women.