Famous Congo doctor calls gender inequality a disgrace

FILE - In this Wednesday Nov. 26, 2014 file photo, Doctor Denis Mukwege, from the Democratic Republic of Congo, a gynecologist who specializes in treating victims of rape and extreme sexual violence, waves as he gets the Sakharov Prize at the European Parliament in Strasbourg eastern France. Mukwege, speaking at an international assembly of the Lutheran Church in Namibia, Thursday, May 11, 2017, said that gender inequality is a disgrace to society. (AP Photo/Christian Lutz, File) (The Associated Press)

A Congolese doctor who has been nominated several times for the Nobel Peace Prize for his work treating victims of sexual violence says gender inequality is a disgrace to society.

Denis Mukwege spoke Thursday at an international assembly of the Lutheran church in Namibia.

The gynecologist says churches must speak out against sexual abuse, and he condemns what he calls the "inhumanity" that some men show toward women.

The doctor has treated thousands of women in Congo, many of whom were victims of gang rape. Armed men tried to kill him in 2012, forcing him to temporarily leave the country.

Delegates at the religious assembly in the Namibian capital gave Mukwege a standing ovation.