Angelina Jolie meets with women, girls in eastern Congo

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GOMA, Congo (AP) — Angelina Jolie is meeting with women and girls in eastern Congo, where sexual violence is rampant.

Jolie, a special envoy for the U.N. refugee agency, traveled to the Nzulo camp near Goma on Monday along with British Foreign Secretary William Hague.

The International Rescue Committee says it’s provided care to more than 2,500 women and girls who have been raped or abused over the last year alone. The IRC is handing out kits with flashlights and whistles, as well as cleaning products so that women can avoid bathing at creeks where the risk of assault is higher.

Sexual violence is frequently used as a weapon of war by rebel groups that operate in eastern Congo, as well as by Congolese soldiers.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.