In their article, Peterman et al. use Demographic Health Survey (DHS) data to estimate rates of rape in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). 1 Measuring and reporting on sexual violence (SV) in crisis-affected populations has well-known challenges, 2---4 and survivors of SV are not limited to women of reproductive age. 5, 6

In March 2010, we assessed the prevalence of all forms of SV in a population-based cluster survey of adults in eastern DRC territories of South Kivu, North Kivu, and Ituri. 5 Our data covered the 1994---2010 time period. Peterman et al. used data from the 2007 DHS, a population-based cluster sample of all DRC provinces, which contains a number of limitations in determining SV prevalence (eg, a limited numbers of questions on SV and a lack of clear distinction between rape and other forms of SV). Although they exist for the purpose of SV research, standardized definitions …