Katana, Democratic Republic of Congo (CNN) -- Quiet, remote and beautiful villages have become the scene for unspeakable horror as women are raped as a weapon in war.
Violence in the democratic Republic of Congo is brutal and that includes armed gangs raping and killing.
A United Nations report said that in the last year more than 15,000 women were raped in the east of the Congo, but even the U.N. admits that is a conservative estimate.
Katana village is 30 minutes from Bukavu, the regional capital of South Kivu, just off the main road leading out of town.
It is one of the few "good roads," but turn off it and the track very quickly becomes little more then a footpath.
Poor infrastructure and the ever-present threat of violence have isolated this community, as they have done to rural communities throughout eastern Congo.
Both militias and Congolese troops move through this area.
The U.N. report accused Rwandan and Congolese militias, and the Congolese military, of violence against civilians and mass rape. Congo's defense minister has denied its soldiers were involved.
CNN
