Trigger warning for graphic detail.
"It is now more dangerous to be a woman than to be a soldier in modern wars." These words were spoken by Major General Patrick Cammaert, the Deputy Force Commander of the United Nations Mission to the Democratic Republic of Congo, in 2008, as he described the the terrifying scorched earth rape strategy being employed in that country (and others like it). Not only is rampant sexual violence a human rights violation and war crime, but it is a recognized core security issue for international peace and conflict resolution.
How can this be? War evokes images of young men, literally led to slaughter. For most people exposure to conflict most frequently comes in the form of newspaper pages filled with pictures of young men and a few women who've die as soldiers fighting wars in other countries. We don't see pictures of women who die as civilians or those who are raped violently and repeatedly in conflict as a war strategy. Rape, invisible and ubiquitous, is perceived as sexual and inevitable, and we tend to think of children and women as collaterally damaged during war. In truth, all over the world, girls and women are fully, bodily engaged in conflict involving the regular use of men's bodies, and other objects, as weapons against them. Women, enslaved and described as sperm "envelopes" to be passed from man to man, are subject to violent forced impregnation or sterilization, psychological terror, humiliation, bodily mutilation and death.
It is exceedingly difficult to obtain accurate data regarding the incidence of rape even in daily, civilian life. Obtaining it during times of war and in cultures where the stigma attached to being a rape victim and an unmarried pregnant girl or woman results in ostracization or death, it is exponentially more difficult. Women Under Siege documents the use of rape as an instrument of torture and genocide worldwide. It is currently tracking and mapping rapes in Syria. Its goal is to learn from historical events and change outcomes in the future. One thing is certain, however; rape is when men weaponize themselves, and conflict is the time when rape as a mass phenomenon of power and control is most obvious.
Can rape during conflict be stopped? This is the goal of The International Campaign to Stop Rape & Gender Violence in Conflict, a collaboration between more than 400 Nobel Peace Laureates, international advocacy organizations, and groups working in conflict zones that launched this week.
The campaign, based on the practice of three principles, PREVENT, PROTECT, PROSECUTE, urges political leaders to acknowledge the widespread use of rape as a weapon during conflict and to protect civilians and those already victimized, often repeatedly, by these crimes. It requires that perpetrators of rape be identified, arrested and prosecuted -- often by the very regimes engaged in the practice.
The Campaign is currently focused on four countries that need urgent attention:
The Democratic Republic of Congo is hell on earth for women. It is known as the "rape capital of the world." Despite an almost ten-year-old peace agreement, conflict is pervasive and deadly. Between 2006 and 2007, more than 400,000 women were raped in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Last month, The Atlantic ran a story and photographs of a woman who had been cannibalized after her rape. At a rate of 48 rapes an hour, the level of sexualized violence was terrifying. During this period, girls and women, assaulted with weapons, including bayonets, made daily decisions between starving and being raped as they search for food. There were widespread reports of rebel rape camps and regular, frequent gang rapes, often including baby girls. Children conceived in rape, also died in rape. Rape is now a "normal" part of life involving civilians and members of various militias, including state forces and rebels. Men rape to humiliate, control, terrorize. Some believe it provides them with "magical powers" before fighting. The occurrence of rape remains high and common and is notable because it is now happening in women's homes, where rape is largely accepted and perpetrators entirely unpunished. Several aid organizations have also begun tracking a high incidence of male rape, increasingly recognized worldwide as a frequent occurrence in conflict, even harder to document.
In Burma, a report produced by ShanWomen.org, a grass-roots organization, documents the repeated rapes of more than 625 girls and women and the use of violent sexual assault as a weapon. These girls and women were often raped by commanding officers in front of their troops as part of an ongoing program of torture, shame and violence including choking, suffocation and various forms of mutilation. Twenty-five percent of rapes ended in death. Out of the total 173 documented cases, only one man was punished. On the other hand, women coming forward to report their rapes were imprisoned, assaulted and sometimes killed.
In Colombia, a country were low-grade conflict regularly involving civilians has existed since the 1940s, girls (as young as at least 11) and women are regularly subjected to rape and assault by members of the military, paramilitary and guerilla forces. A survey on the incidence of sexual violence due to conflict in Colombia found that six girls and/or women were raped every hour between 2001 and 2009. During this period 500,000 girls and women reported being raped. "82.15% of the 489,678 women victims of some type of sexual violence (meaning 402,264 women) did not report the abuses. 73.93% of the victims consider that the presence of armed actors...is an obstacle to reporting sexual violence."
Lastly, Kenya, where, although there is no ongoing war, rape is used as a tool of ethnic subjugation defined as conflict related to 2007 post-election violence. A study conducted by The Centre for Rights Education and Awareness in 2008 found that "The Kenya Police Crime Report data for 2007 indicated that there were 876 cases of rape reported, 1,984 cases of defilement, 181 cases of incest, 198 cases of sodomy, 191 cases of indecent assault and 173 cases of abduction reported in the year." Post-election rapes in Kenya included incidences of forced genital mutilation and widespread gang rapes. The next Kenyan election is in 2013.
Darfur-Sudan, Egypt, Liberia, Peru, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Rwanda (where 500,000 women were raped in 100 days), Cambodia, Bosnia, Guatemala, Haiti, Nicaragua, Mexico. These are places where mass conflict-driven rape were and are sometimes are still common, often as a tool of ethnic cleansing.
Gender inequities are at the core of these assaults because even though girls and women are overwhelming victims, men in these communities are often the primary targets. Girls and women are viewed as property and an attack on them is a form of theft and destruction against men. In this way, rape is a strategy and a reward both. Raping females is one of the most effective ways of eviscerating the social fabric of a community at every level.
Susan Brownmiller first described rape's role in conflict in what she called the "hit and run rapes of Bengali women" by Pakistani troops in 1971 in her landmark book, Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape.
So, what can you do? The organizers are aware that the goal of eliminating conflict-driven rape and sexual assault seems improbable to many, if not most, people. There is a tendency for self-fulfilling mythology to dominate conversations about rape in conflict. But, there are conflicts where industrialized, terrorizing rape does not occur. If that is the case, then there is nothing inevitable about it.
The campaign, launched this week, is designed to raise awareness and brings supporters together online.
It's not impossible.
Events will be taking place throughout the week of May 6-13, in countries around the world. Everyone interested should take the initiative's Pledge, which involves a series of action steps related to using social media to share information, raising funds and generating political momentum to change the way government perceive and deal with this issue. You can do, for example, taking a photo of your #IPLEDGE and sharing it on the StopRape in Conflict wall; contacting your local government official and informing them of the Campaign and your pledge; sharing the information on your Facebook wall, and encouraging others to learn more. If you are a Tweeter, use the hashtag #IPLEDGE. Tweet your representatives and make sure you include @stoprapecmpgn in your Tweets.
This post originally appeared on Fem2.0 and is crossposted with permission.
Follow Soraya Chemaly on Twitter: www.twitter.com/schemaly
Andrew G. Lim: Will U.S. Investment Create a 'Ruby Republic' in Burma?
The victims are everyday people and the weak, which also include the children that are taken from their families and used as "soldiers." There is a really good article about how far these atrocities actually go at http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/jul/17/the-rape-of-men
Excerpt: Her study Male Rape and Human Rights notes incidents of male sexual violence as a weapon of wartime or political aggression in countries such as Chile, Greece, Croatia, Iran, Kuwait, the former Soviet Union and the former Yugoslavia. Twenty-one per cent of Sri Lankan males who were seen at a London torture treatment centre reported sexual abuse while in detention. In El Salvador, 76% of male political prisoners surveyed in the 1980s described at least one incidence of sexual torture. A study of 6,000 concentration-camp inmates in Sarajevo found that 80% of men reported having been raped.
I'm not trying to compare women's pain to men's pain. It is not a contest. However the atrocities that are committed effect the PEOPLE of these nations, not just the women. We should acknowledge the problem in its' entirety.
http://www.millionwomenrise.com/
1 Peter 3:2-5 "While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price"
Matthew 5:28, "Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart"
1 Corinthians 6:9,10 The unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God"
Matthew 19:16,17 "One came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments"
I do sorrow for all who are abused, all should be respected and deserving of respect.
"My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother: For they shall be an ornament of grace" Proverbs 1:8,9 "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction" Proverbs 1:7 and "as innocent and as harmless as doves"? from, Matthew 10:16
Now consider these words from the Qur'an;"The Believer", Sura XL(40) : 70+ "When the collars shall be on their necks and the chains to drag them into Hell: then in the fire shall they be burned"
Now ask yourself, "How do nice little boys turn out to be evil?" "Could the mothers of these men have help educate them in the ways of peace?" "How much of the world is pushing nice little children the wrong way?"
If these evil men were "true" Christians would they do evil things? Which would you rather have men who are "true" Christians or something else?
That's the goal.
Why not work on stopping the war?
Why not work on stopping the raping AND the killing?
Why not work to save the lives of the young women AND young men in the Congo who are victims of that war?
This is not the place to go for examples of how humanity normally treats one another.
I don't get it.
I'm grateful that we have a 2nd Amendment to our Constitution. I urge every woman to be pro-gun rights, and to obtain a pistol and learn how to use it safely. Carry it with you every day, as the law allows, on your person (as in, not in your purse, too easy for a purse snatcher to grab or to be set down or what not and not readily accessable). A pistol can be obtained for just a few hundred dollars, less in many places, with a truly excellent handgun available for no more than $600. A decent revolver can be found for far less, even below $100.
A gun is known as "the great equalizer" for a reason, it levels the playing field between a 250lbs rapist and a 100lbs potential victim.
TLDR: Women, quit being anti-gun, it gives you the means to defend yourself. Be grateful for our rights, this article is an example of what can happen when you don't have them.
According to reports, the senior (65 years old) was biking down the trail when the group of boys -- ages 16, 16, and 15 -- knocked the man off his bicycle.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/26/man-knocked-off-bike-kills-teen_n_1233462.html
This article is an odd place to crowbar in generic complaints about feminism.
That doesn't mean that there are not legitimate points of concern to be found...as one person wrote...
"A humanist would focus on ending the war and restoring peace. A feminist would focus on protecting the women while the war rages on. Who do you think would be more successful in protecting women?"
Why Soraya would focus on a totally unrealistic, GENDER SPECIFIC solution is a valid question...
132,295 from Angola
37,313 from Rwanda
17,777 from Burundi
http://www.index.mundi.com/democratic_republic_of_the_congo/refugees_and_internally_displaced_persons.html
Millions are still displaced in Haiti without proper housing or sanitation much less any semblance of employment or normal life. Rape is common in the camps, as reported after the 2010 earthquake.
Women and children are abused daily, and sold into s3x slavery worldwide--even in the united states--in appalling numbers, What is needed is a major awakening of consciousness of men and women alike before the inhumanity perpetrated can be recognized, because it clearly isn't seen as such.
The displaced people whether by war or other tragedies needs to be addressed by the world community (and it is to some degree); settled people can grow food and education can be resumed. When the law of the land is corrupt no stability or safety exists. Women of the world must learn to value themselves, and take the lead.
I've been watching Uganda's progress which needs to be publicized more than it has been. Do you know of the bead industry there?
The work of Wangari Maatai has been infuential among women elsewhere, but they are settled, of course.
Without education and industry, jobs and horticulture, generations are lost.
Africa is probably in a much better position overall to see positive change before the Middle East, perhaps.
You can't have civil rights without peace and the consent of the people whose rights you seek to protect. You need a stable society to provide these things. You don't keep a war going because women are not being treated well in the society. It seems you think our military has unlimited power to socially engineer societies. The fact is they can't make people do whatever you might want them to do. Their expertise is blowing things up, not molding the hearts and minds of the people who they dominate at gun point. You seem to have a kind of colonial mentality when it comes to getting people of other nations to do what you want.
A humanist would see both genders and how they are both vulnerable. A feminist is not a humanist. They only want to view things in terms of females being victimized by males and see male victimization as a lesser issue because it does not cross gender lines. I think this kind of thinking is regressive and the progressive approach of seeing all victims as equals is the true path of equality.
A humanist would focus on ending the war and restoring peace. A feminist would focus on protecting the women while the war rages on. Who do you think would be more successful in protecting women?
Even when she finds a worthy topic...it's still tainted by her tunnel vision.