Congolese human rights activist Christine Schuler Deschryver appeared on Democracy Now today, talking about the plight of women in DRC during the long war there. Click here and follow the "segment" link to hear what she has to say.
Yesterday's New York Times has an article on rape in Congo, and you can read some basic facts about the toll of the conflict on the International Rescue Committee's website. Read more about what fuels the war at the Global Policy Forum's website.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
How come nobody's going after the bastard rapists? "Peacekeepers," uh-huh, and give money to the hospital, yeah, but what about some lining up some rapists and giving them one in the head. I'd give some money for that.
Well, this has been going on for years, and so far the rest of the world has shown more concern for the gorillas there than the women. So, like somebody said, don't hold your breath
If you could do something, what would you do? Pretend you have unlimited funds.
Well, acknowledging at the outset that I am talking pure, uninformed drivel, I'd say the first thing would be to stop the flow of weapons to the various groups doing the violence. There's no way that could ever happen without a more stable political situation, because stopping the weapons means stopping the flow of money that pays for them; which in turn means controlling the movement of resources in and out of the region. But, of course, it's impossible to create political stability with what's going on. Chicken and egg, etc.
By the way, this is what the UN has tried to do, without much success according to that GPF page I linked to, because "the US has opposed any more peacekeepers, claiming the $1 billion mission is already too expensive."
Everybody, including the Congolese activist on Goodman's show, seems to agree that the worst atrocities are committed by the Hutu fighters "left over" from the Rwanda war, and I suppose you could do something to target them specifically, though obviously there has to be some internal leadership for even that to happen.
You know, Renee, I was pondering your question again this morning as I walked in relative peace and security through the woods, and it occurred to me to wonder why I never thought about the option of arming the women.
Not that I actually believe it would work. In a place of such poverty and chaos, the weapons would probably be quickly traded for more immediate needs; and of course, more guns just means more violence all the way around--lots more of the kind of killings we specialize hereabouts, for instance.
Still, I wish I could say empowering the women to defend themselves in some way had been my first thought.
I do nurse fantasies sometimes of a sort of international women's militia that would run around the world and stop this kind of thing.
That's exactly what I was thinking.
Post a Comment