Both foreigners and Congolese nationals were among the 83 alleged perpetrators identified.

The majority were Congolese staff hired on a temporary basis who took advantage of their apparent authority to obtain sexual favours, the report said.

[...]

AP has since obtained recordings of meetings during which WHO emergencies chief Dr Michael Ryan acknowledged that the DRC sex abuse allegations were likely to be "the tip of an iceberg" and were part of a problem that "does reflect a culture as well".

[...]

A member of the Congolese Union of Media Women (UCOFEM), Julie Londo, applauded WHO for punishing staff members involved in the abuse allegations but said the agency needed to go further.

She said: "WHO must also think about reparation for the women who were traumatised by the rapes and the dozens of children who were born with unwanted pregnancies as a result of the rapes.

"There are a dozen girls in Butembo and Beni who had children with doctors during the Ebola epidemic, but today others are sent back by their families because they had children with foreigners...We will continue our fight to end these abuses."

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Responding to backlash, the prestigious medical journal's chief editor triggered another, with a confusing apology bringing up "transgender health" instead.

Last week's cover of the Lancet "conveyed the impression that we have dehumanised and marginalised women," editor in chief Richard Horton said Monday, adding that regular readers "will understand that this would never have been our intention," as the journal "strives for maximum inclusivity of all people in its vision for advancing health."

Horton apologized "to our readers who were offended by the cover quote and the use of those same words in the review."

However, he then triggered another round of condemnations by pointing out that "transgender health is an important dimension of modern health care, but one that remains neglected," and that the article from which the quote was taken was "a compelling call to empower women, together with non-binary, trans, and intersex people who have experienced menstruation."

Within a few hours, the apology tweet was rivaling the ratio of last week's controversy, with 1,500 replies and quote-tweets to fewer than 200 likes and retweets.

"This is not an explanation but cowardice digging itself a deeper hole," said one reader.

"We're not 'offended.' We're angry with you colluding with the political erasure of women. Especially in a context when you are supposed to be rectifying that historic erasure," said Dr. Jane Clare Jones, an outspoken feminist.

"Your notion of 'inclusivity' demeans and erases women. Your 'apology' is a word salad that offends against common sense and science," wrote journalist and novelist Joan Smith.

Women aren't offended, but "sick of being sidelined, patronised & talked at," said Baroness Jacqueline Foster, a member of the UK House of Lords. "You also presume we don't understand the challenges of trans people - we do - but not at the expense of our being marginalised," she added.

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