(../../../../../favicon_aje.ico) Women take up arms as sexual violence ravages eastern DRC | African Union | Al Jazeera    (https://www.aljazeera.com/video/newsfeed/2026/9/26/09-26-drc-women-fighters-sv-mp4)                                                 (https://www.aljazeera.com/xml/rss/all.xml)  (https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/video/newsfeed/2026/9/26/09-26-drc-women-fighters-sv-mp4)  (https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/image-1790439858.jpg?resize=1920%2C1080&quality=80)     (https://cdn.cookielaw.org) (https://cdn.cookielaw.org) (https://cdn.cookielaw.org) (https://cdn.cookielaw.org/scripttemplates/otSDKStub.js) (https://www.google-analytics.com) (https://www.google-analytics.com) (https://www.google-analytics.com) (https://static.chartbeat.com/) (https://static.chartbeat.com/) (https://static.chartbeat.com/) (../../../../../static/css/vendor~main~d08ff9cb.24bf1742.r2.chunk.css) (../../../../../static/css/component~main~748942c6.6c6e15fe.r2.chunk.css) (../../../../../static/css/component~main~b07b7304.e3bc53a0.r2.chunk.css) (../../../../../static/css/component~main~6e6dca10.74fd263a.r2.chunk.css) (../../../../../static/css/component~main~5db14389.a7dc5dd5.r2.chunk.css) (https://www.aljazeera.com/static/media/Roboto-Bold.52bb58c8.woff2) (https://www.aljazeera.com/static/media/Roboto-Regular.c5bf51b6.woff2)  (../../../../../static/css/vendor~aje/containers/home-page~components/video-article/videoPageDispatcher~containers/amp-live-blo~5f903362.2e08e417.r2.chunk.css)  (../../../../../static/css/component~aje/containers/home-page~components/video-article/videoPageDispatcher~containers/amp-live-~41c72a2c.3f309873.r2.chunk.css)  (../../../../../static/css/component~aje/containers/home-page~components/video-article/videoPageDispatcher~containers/amp-live-~06be7c11.0625e98d.r2.chunk.css)  (../../../../../static/css/component~components/video-article/videoPageDispatcher~containers/amp-live-blog-container~containers~18bc4cb8.89874183.r2.chunk.css)  (../../../../../static/css/common~493df0b3.ec3ab9b5.r2.chunk.css)  (../../../../../static/css/components/video-article/videoPageDispatcher~6e6dca10.b625c9d1.r2.chunk.css)  (../../../../../static/css/common~493df0b3.ec3ab9b5.r2.chunk.css)  Skip links (09-26-drc-women-fighters-sv-mp4@traffic_source=rss.html#main-content-area) Skip to Content  (https://www.aljazeera.com/)        (https://www.aljazeera.com/video/live) play    Live    Sign up  Show navigation menu     Navigation menu (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/) News    Show more news sections  (https://www.aljazeera.com/africa/) Africa   (https://www.aljazeera.com/asia/) Asia   (https://www.aljazeera.com/us-canada/) US & Canada   (https://www.aljazeera.com/latin-america/) Latin America   (https://www.aljazeera.com/europe/) Europe   (https://www.aljazeera.com/asia-pacific/) Asia Pacific      (https://www.aljazeera.com/middle-east/) Middle East   (https://www.aljazeera.com/tag/explainer/) Explained   (https://www.aljazeera.com/sports) Sport   (https://www.aljazeera.com/opinion/) Opinion   (https://www.aljazeera.com/videos/) Video   More   Show more sections  (https://www.aljazeera.com/aljazeera-originals) Originals   (https://www.aljazeera.com/features/) Features   (https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/) Economy   (https://www.aljazeera.com/tag/human-rights/) Human Rights   (https://www.aljazeera.com/climate-crisis) Climate Crisis   (https://www.aljazeera.com/investigations/) Investigations   (https://www.aljazeera.com/interactives/) Interactives   (https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/) In Pictures   (https://www.aljazeera.com/tag/science-and-technology/) Science & Technology   (https://www.aljazeera.com/audio/podcasts) Podcasts   (https://www.aljazeera.com/travel) Travel   (https://www.aljazeera.com/sponsored/) Sponsored Content        (https://www.aljazeera.com/video/live) play    Live    Click here to search search     Sign up        ()   Toggle Play    Women take up arms as sexual violence ravages eastern DRC   (https://www.aljazeera.com/video/newsfeed/) NewsFeed   Women take up arms as sexual violence ravages eastern DRC  As war and sexual violence rage in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), women are joining pro-government Wazalendo fighters to defend their communities. However, the armed group itself faces serious accusations of human rights abuses, including gang rape.  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