Ministers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo were forced to acknowledge the rampant sexual violence taking place in the war-torn country after a documentary on the subject screened in Parliament.

An audience of more than 600 people heard the testimonies of rape survivors at the local premiere of The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo.

The documentary's American director, Lisa Jackson, visited Canberra for the Australian premiere last month. She has since been travelling the world promoting the film, which has screened in more than 50 countries and inspired a UN Security Council resolution.

Speaking from New York, she said the Congolese audience was shocked by what it saw.

One of the women featured in the film, Maire-Jeanne M'weshe, spoke about her experience and berated the Government for its inaction.

It was the first time Ms M'weshe, who is illiterate, had left her province.

Ms Jackson said of her, ''She pointed to the machete scar on her forehead, pointed to the missing teeth that her rapist had bashed out with a machete, and said, 'I have suffered. I stand before you, a woman who watched her husband castrated and murdered in front of her.' She did not shrink from identifying herself and demanding help ... she stood up and gave them hell.''

Ms Jackson said people in the Congolese capital were insulated from the conflict.

''People in Kinshasa really do live in a bubble. They are 500km away from the fighting, it's not on TV, they rarely travel there, they don't have family members who are directly impacted,'' she said. ''Most of them know what's happening from UN accounts but to hear these women talk they'd never heard anything like it... how women are suffering was made real.''

The audience included: the president of the national assembly, Vital Kamerhe; the president of the senate, Kengo Wa Dondo; the deputy prime minister, Nzanga Mobutu; and the gender minister, Marie Ange Mufankolo.

The president, Joseph Kabila, was a notable absence.

Ms Jackson said she hoped the documentary screening would prompt the Government to make the issue a priority.

The documentary won a Special Jury Prize at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, sparked a US Senate hearing and has been screened in the British House of Commons, the International Criminal Court and the US Department of State.