Congolese Women Need Our Help - Bloggers Unite
Blog Catalog teamed up with Amnesty International for Bloggers Unite For Human Rights, May 15th which is ….voila today.
I was going to pass this one up until reading commentary on the web in which “self designated feminists” are going at each other over the endorsement of Obama by NRAL- PAC.
It’s all about them of course.
Then the plight of the Congolese women comes to mind. Women who are now fighting valiantly against all odds to make their voices heard. Women whose willingness to prosecute those who have harmed them, an act which is frightening and not without risks, is just beginning to bear fruit. Strong women in need of our help to gain the power they need to be free of the horrible oppression, degradation and violence of rape as an act of war.
The Congo, despite new laws enacted in 2006, remains a culture of impunity. With women the major providers for their families in the Congo, the results of rape as an act of war is even more devastating to Congolese communities.
Until we start asking those most egregiously affected by oppression what we can do to help them, whether it be the underclass in these United States, of which women are in the majority, or the women of the Congo, there will be no equality.
No equality, because no matter how many books are written, or how many lectures or seminars on the subject of sexism are attended by upper middle class college students, no matter how many women are CEO’s of major corporations, university president’ s, or Mayors of major cities – until the women who can’t get an education, feed their families, get health insurance, or even, as is the case in The Congo , live free of brutal rape as an act of war….we have failed.
Some places where you can help.
I personally recommend:
Women for Women International.
Congolese Women Transforming Their Lives - pdf
Run for Congo Women – my county did a successful run a couple months ago. I believe this is a good fund raising opportunity, pass it on and raise awareness.
The Greatest Silence still has some limited showing on HBO.
The Greatest Silence Web Site.
The IRC has a section where you can send a message to women in the Congo.
An IRC’S Voices From the Field you will be able to read and see what IRC workers have experienced and through them what the women in the Congo are going through. with photos courtesy of Melissa Winkler, and Peter Biro.
I think my first comment got lost…so I appologize if you get this twice!
Wonderful post! It really is such a shocking situation. I saw the documentary Greatest Silence…it was very well done and I’m so grateful for people who shine a light on these situations thru documentaries otherwise we’d probably never hear about them.
Thanks for the links too, I’ll be checking them out.
Thanks I hope you do check them out.
Great cause to bring attention to - disturbing, of course. I did skim over some of these issues , as well, when considering what to blog about on my own for today. Thank you for bringing more public awareness to these issues. Though a single day of blogging for a cause may not alleviate heinous acts such as these in the world, bringing awareness to the varieties of human rights violations that exist in the world is at least a start.
Impunity is the Devil’s law, isn’t it? Great choice.
It is indeed.
This is one of those places whose history and politics make me enormously sad. One has to admire the strength of those who keep on keeping on under such circumstances.
One of the saddest and the least likely to ever be resolved - the conflicts
The violence against the women of the Congo can be addressed separately and solved. I truly believe that.
It’s ironic that the conflict which helped switch gender roles there - making the women providers - is also responsible for the brutality as well.
I saw that film you’d placed it on the Darfur site some time back, it would be helpful to have it on the regular networks
Just heart wrenching. Thank you for such an important post and helping to shed light on such horrific brutality. And thank you for all of the links where I can enlighten myself further.
There is also that Kiva loan thing which I undersatand is pretty successful.
It is heartbreaking to see those women, as strong as they are, have to go through this. It make so much which goes on in middle class America sound so silly.
Very interesting post for Bloggers Unite for Human Rights, we have to do something to stop the violence against women.
I invite you to read my post for Blogger Unite For Human Rights, I give a brief panorama on Human Rights situation in Mexico.
I believe you’re spot on in your assessment of things which really matter for women, and women’s rights, in the long run.
I’d like to see all those spectacular documentaries - which are shown on HBO and the like - shown to a larger audience on major networks.
I’d also like to see more women’s organizations fighting for these women.
Excellent choice and write up there Cooper. *thumbs up*
I’m in a hurry, but succeeded to throw something in too, not the post I wanted to write, but never the less a post…
(I left a link to your Darfur-blog there too :-)
Cooper, Cooper, Cooper whenever I want to forget I have a conscience you come along. Thank you :)
Women and children are raped all because of coltran a metal substance that is a component in manufacturing laptops, cell phone, games etc. for our technological convenience to drive away whole villages so they can pillage the area of natural resources.
You’re absolutely right, this last war began with coltran, a conflict over land and mineral wealth, the unequal access to that land, and the unfair sharing of revenues from exploitation of natural resources.
The wealth in the Congo is huge, from a natural resource perspective, it has caused farmers to stop farming and wars and violence on many levels. Much of the plundering and looting at the onset by The Uganda People’s Defense Forces and the Rwandan Patriotic Army .
The lack of a “real” Pan African Union is not helping, and there is no way to stop this conflict without a real Pan African Union. This conflict can not be stopped at a local level the world again allows for travesty to occur in areas plundered for their convenience.
I realize the United States gets some coltran from Congo, though it is hard to trace it from what I am told, and what we get from Rwanda most likely is at least partially from Congo.
We may not be able to do a thing about the various Congolese conflicts, as I do not see coltran being in less demand with US citizens replacing their cell phones yearly, and Japanese replacing them almost tri- monthly, that and the need for every twelve year old to have the newest gaming system.
regarding rape as an act of war:
That can be addressed and would be more successful would the Nations states of the UN actually make themselves useful and get some balls.
The undemocratic government of the Democratic Congo needs to form a professional army which actually protects civilian instead of abusing them, they need to start obeying their own laws and prosecuting rapists.
I remain speechless on this.
Do we know what we do?
We should.
At what point
do we just give in to it?
You are absolutely right to contrast the petty squabbling of our politicians and self-interest groups against the plight of the women of the DRC. I’ve written about this myself several times, including a post for this event. There could be no more clear abuse of human rights.
Dave Donelson, author of Heart of Diamonds
How poor women they are! How can men treat them like this? I do not understand what cause these heartless actions? What does the government do?
Thanks Cooper. Thanks for this. The voices of African women are silenced each and every day. They depend on people like you to make sure they are heard.