Women in the Congo have suffered extensively during the country’s five-year civil war, from widespread rape and sexual violence that goes unpunished to the breakdown of family life, a U.N. adviser told a Security Council meeting Wednesday. “The law of the gun has devastated the condition of women,” said Amy Smythe, the adviser on gender issues to the U.N. peacekeeping force in Congo. The civil war in Congo officially ended this year with the creation of a power-sharing government that includes rebel leaders. The vast central African nation’s north and east remain volatile, however, with deadly attacks and ethnic fighting. The United States organized a Security Council meeting on women, peace and security to mark the third anniversary of a U.N. resolution that committed governments to include women at peace talks while protecting them from the abuses of war. Full Story