The Congo is a nation at peace. In name. In reality the fighting for the mineral-rich east of the country has never ended and women and children are paying the price. In mid-september open fighting began again and with it a rise in the "public gang rapes and sexual enslavement"1 of the women of the Congo. In the capital city of North Kivu, a province in Congo bordering Rawanda, “this past week alone, according to the provincial health services, 20 cases of sexual violence were reported...We know that this number only represents a fraction of the actual sexual violence, as most cases go unreported”2. Not only is this violence occuring against women, but there has also been a rise in the numbers of child solider recruited, “Children as young as seven have been forced to fight...Some children are being abducted and others are joining armed groups voluntarily because they lack food and access to education or vocational skills” 2.
In a recent speech Stephen Lewis, former Canadian representative to the United Nations and former Special Representative for HIV/AIDS in Africa stated that, "the raping of the Congo’s resources is inextricably tied to the raping of the Congo’s women. The major western powers have known this to be true for more than a decade and have behaved with craven self-interest and appalling indifference. If crimes against humanity were a matter of omission rather than commission, certain industrial countries would be on trial" 3. Thus as we, the privileged of the world, have an ability to pressure our governments to affect change, let us strive towards this.
Things you can do:
*email your mp
*start/sign a petition
*raise awareness on this and other human rights issues
*raise funds for charities and NGOs taking action
Please write us with any questions, comments, information you have!
1. http://www.stephenlewisfoundation.org/news_item.cfm?news=2582
2.http://www.worldvision.ca/About-Us/Newsroom/press-releases/Pages/world-vision-urges-un-to-protect-children-women-in-congo-conflict.aspx
3. http://www.stephenlewisfoundation.org/news_speech_item.cfm?news=2594
5 comments:
demand for action from from Liberata Rumumba, a refugee and women's leader in Eastern Congo:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/congo_europe_must_act/?cl=149913564&v=2456
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