DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: The Worst Places in the World for Women: Congo

The price of womanhood came brutally to Odette, born in a wartorn country often dubbed "the rape capital of the world".

The 18-year-old from Minova recalls the day that members of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), came to her village in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and scarred her life for ever.

"FDLR militia attacked our village, looted and burned houses," says Odette, who does not give her surname. "My father was burnt in one of the houses and my mother was raped and killed.

"I was taken away by the militia for seven months. Every day, I was obliged to have sex with any of them until I managed to escape."

Women have constantly been targets of the armed forces during Congo's intractable conflicts in North and South Kivu provinces. According to the UN, more than 8,000 women were raped in 2009. Gang rape is rife.

Masika Katsuva, 44, lives in a small village near Minova and takes care of hundreds of women who have been raped, as well as babies who have survived the violence.

"Women are raped while going go to the fields or on their way to market to trade, or also on the road to the stream while going to fetch water," she says.

"When there are attacks on villages, the number of new cases of sexual violence increases. Cases of sexual violence continue to increase because women cannot stop going to fields and markets and to fetch water."

A recent Oxfam report denounced domestic sexual violence in Congo.

Women say they are treated as second-class citizens with few opportunities to enter politics and make a difference in gender relations. Forced marriages of girls under 18 remain a severe obstacle to education.

Fatuma Eugenie of ASAF, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) active in Mugunga, says: "Justice is not fair. Policemen, soldiers and local authorities who could implement justice are the most pointed at in the forced marriage practices."

But Thethe Demba, working for Tumaini, an NGO in Goma, believes there are glimmers of hope. "In the past, so many women didn't go school and nobody could claim our rights," the 39-year-old says. "Today, even old women are going to university in order to bring a change on behalf of girls, women and obviously all the community.

Feller Lutayichirwa, the vice-governor of North Kivu province, says: "I personally think that the struggle must start on behalf of a young girl in her family. It could be important that the family reduces the causes of discrimination towards a girl so that she can be really competitive in the future."