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Angelina Jolie's gold ring pulls focus from Congolese rape survivors

Angelina Jolie is wearing a simple gold ring instead of her diamond engagement ring as she meets with women and girls in eastern Congo to highlight war-zone rape.

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Iggy Roberts / Ministry of Defence / AP
Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague visits Lac Vert camp in the Democratic Republic of Congo with actress and UNHCR Special Envoy Angelina Jolie during their trip to Africa to to raise awareness of war-zone rape, March 26.
  • By Associated Press

| GOMA, Congo

Angelina Jolie is meeting with women and girls in eastern Congo, where sexual violence is rampant, but the coverage is focusing on the gold ring she's wearing in place of her usual massive engagement ring.

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 has 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.

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