audio, stills, text and or video: Go to zReportage.com to see more - Burundi's Rape Center Seruka, which means ''out of darkness'' in the local language Kirundi, was started by MSF in 2003 and was taken over by a local organization in 2009. For ten years now, 35 people worked in shifts around the clock, to receive women and girls who are victims of rape. In Burundi women and young girls continue to suffer from the chaos that raged during the country's 12-year civil war. Since the conflict's end in 2005, local sexual abuse support centers have helped over 10,000 rape victims, some who were attacked by their own relatives. For victims, the social stigma associated with crimes of sexual violence is severe. Girls are often rejected by their families, forced to live on the streets without food, shelter or money, and, as a result, less likely to seek medical attention. Because rape is not taken seriously by the authorities and victims themselves are shunned by relatives and their communities, victims rarely report the crime.
© Andreas Bardell/Aftonbladet/zReportage.com via ZUMA Press

Jan 9, 2014 - Bujumbura, Burundi - In Burundi the word rape does not exist. This young girl at the Seruka Rape Center is only 16. She was raped by her relative who was infected with HIV. Some people here believe that you can be cured from HIV if you have sex with a child. Fortunately she did not become infected with HIV, but she now has a 3-year-old baby as a result from the rape.
© Andreas Bardell/Aftonbladet/zReportage.com via ZUMA Press

Jan 9, 2014 - Bujumbura, Burundi - At the Seruka Rape Center, all the victims are given medication to stop pregnancy or venereal diseases.
© Andreas Bardell/Aftonbladet/zReportage.com via ZUMA Press

Jan 9, 2014 - Bujumbura, Burundi - In Burundi the word rape does not exist. This young girl at the Seruka Rape Center is only 16. She was raped by her relative who was infected with HIV. Some people here believe that you can be cured from HIV if you have sex with a child. Fortunately she did not become infected with HIV, but she now has a 3-year-old baby as a result from the rape.
© Andreas Bardell/Aftonbladet/zReportage.com via ZUMA Press

Jan 9, 2014 - Bujumbura, Burundi - In Burundi the word rape does not exist. This young girl at the Seruka Rape Center is only 16. She was raped by her relative who was infected with HIV. Some people here believe that you can be cured from HIV if you have sex with a child. Fortunately she did not become infected with HIV, but she now has a 3-year-old baby as a result from the rape.
© Andreas Bardell/Aftonbladet/zReportage.com via ZUMA Press

Jan 9, 2014 - Bujumbura, Burundi - Psychologist ALINE SHEMERMANA, 32, at Seruka Rape Center. The children who come here are often from very poor families.
© Bardell Andreas/Aftonbladet/IBL/ZUMAPRESS.com

Jan 9, 2014 - Bujumbura, Burundi - The Seruka Rape Center in sees a high percentage of rape victims. Almost seventy percent of all victims who come here are under eighteen. Half of them are under twelve.
© Andreeas Bardell/Aftonbladet/IBL/ZUMAPRESS.com

Jan 9, 2014 - Bujumbura, Burundi - The Seruka Rape Clinic which means ''come out of darkness'' in the local language Kirundi, was started by MSF in 2003 and was taken over by a local organization in 2009. For ten years, 35 people worked in shifts around the clock, to help women and girls who are victims of rape. Doctors, nurses, psychologists and lawyers work together to ensure that victims first receive medications to prevent pregnancy and sexual diseases. The victims are also offered free therapy.
© Bardell Andreas/Aftonbladet/IBL/ZUMAPRESS.com

Jan 9, 2014 - Bujumbura, Burundi - A mother, whose 10-year-old daughter was raped by a soldier at gunpoint, brings her for a follow up visit to the Seruka Rape Center.
© Bardell Andreas/Aftonbladet/IBL/ZUMAPRESS.com

Jan 9, 2014 - Bujumbura, Burundi - An abandoned child sits in a bare brick room at the Seruka Rape Clinic.
© Andreeas Bardell/Aftonbladet/IBL/ZUMAPRESS.com

Jan 9, 2014 - Bujumbura, Burundi - The hands of a 10-year-old girl, who is at the center for a revisit. Her mother says a soldier had raped her daughter at gunpoint. An investigation showed that the child's genital area was badly damaged. But despite both testimony and physical evidence, the man was acquitted in military court.
© Bardell Andreas/Aftonbladet/IBL/ZUMAPRESS.com