In Bunia, DRC, women are the most vulnerable to the Ebola epidemic because of the traditional roles they play within their families and communities.
They are meant to be at the bedside of patients and are therefore more exposed to the risk of contamination.
"When someone in the community is sick, whether it's a family member or another close person, it's the woman who comes to help them. She's the one who bathes them, feeds them, washes their dirty clothes, and does everything else," said Furaha Elisabeth, director of the Karibuni Wa Maman Gynecology and Obstetrics Clinic.
According to a statement released by UN Women on May 22, women have been overrepresented among Ebola victims for fifty years, and the organization fears that the current epidemic will reproduce the same trend.
"If a woman is exposed to the virus and contracts the infection, she will naturally transmit it to those around her. The first to be infected will be her children: the baby she is breastfeeding, her other children, the young children she cares for, and so on. This is why women, girls, and children are the most vulnerable to this epidemic," explains the director of the Karibuni Wa Maman Gynecology and Obstetrics Clinic.
The Democratic Republic of Congo has recorded 282 confirmed cases of Ebola, including 264 in the province of Ituri, according to data published Sunday by the government.
