Overshadowed by genocide in neighbouring Rwanda, Burundi’s people are still paying a devastating price for years of ethnic-based conflict.
Enmity between Tutsi and Hutu ethnic groups has fuelled conflict since independence in 1962. But the 1993 assassination of a first-ever Hutu president plunged Burundi into full-scale civil war.
Around 300,000 people died and nearly 1.5 million were displaced. Although a ceasefire has held since 2008, the conflict is having an ongoing impact, especially for women.
Both Hutu and Tutsi used rape as a weapon of war, while the proliferation of small arms has fuelled violent crime. Taboos about rape and the subservient cultural role of Burundian women mean victims are often castigated, banished or abandoned by their families.
Such attitudes inhibit women from seeking medical help or reporting attackers, as well as fostering the spread of HIV.
Many widowed mothers face desperate poverty, and some turn to prostitution – seen as a safer option than living alone.
Meanwhile, women’s suffering is compounded by lack of reproductive healthcare and sources of safe water.
Population growth is putting huge pressure on Burundi’s agricultural land – causing deforestation and soil erosion. Some 100,000 people still live in camps for the displaced.