2008 Woodie Awards
Women must be more aware of atrocities in the Congo
By Jess Rupell
Issue date: 9/30/05 Section: Opinion
After discussing rape and sexual assault in FYRST Seminar, headed by members of "The Bridge Project," I was appalled by the incredible statistics and stories. In a world where women have always been looked down upon, looked at as sexual objects, and seen as nothing but housewives and mothers, it isn't hard to believe that all of the nasty names directed at both men and women are, in fact, all direct insults upon women themselves. This shows both men and women are insulted by being called a woman. Unfortunately, for as bad as rape and sexual assault is in the United States, it is absolutely nothing compared to what women have to endure in developing nations, such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Upon first realizing the devastating events going on in Congo by watching a special on MTV about members of the band Sum 41 visiting the nation and seeing firsthand what it was like, I was absolutely disgusted. With an unstable government and the militia now ruling the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), women and children are now living in the constant fear of rape and violence. According to Ms. Magazine, Across the DRC are tens of thousands of women like this: physically ravaged, emotionally terrorized, financially impoverished. Except for a few fortunate others, these women have no help of any kind. Eight years of war have left the country in ruins, and Congolese women have been victims of rape on a scale never seen before. However, what is most horrifying is not just that the militia are raping these women, but rather how they are being raped. Gang-raped, raped with branches or bayonets, and then mutilated by these men, many of the women who survive are so physically damaged that they will never be able to bear children due to the shredded and torn nature of their vaginas with little to no medical help available to them.
What's even worse is that, according to the same article, an estimated 30 percent of the women raped in Congo's war are infected with HIV because as many as 60 percent of the combatants are believed to have the virus. With a staggering estimate of 59,000 women and 15,000 children living with HIV/AIDS in a 2001 Human Development Report conducted by United Nations Development Programme, it's no wonder that the nation's people are in desperate need of help and reform.
So why is this happening to such helpless victims, many of whom are habitually shunned after the incident by their husbands, parents and communities as if they had wanted to be taken and raped? A social worker in Congo, Louise Nzigire, believes that all groups in the war have used rape as a cheap and simple weapon because it eradicates the population and is more easily acquired than bullets or bombs.
Frankly, I find the whole idea sickening, and find myself wanting to do what I can to help, which doesn't seem like much. Nevertheless, what I can do is try to educate those unaware of the situation and expose the actions of the militia for their completely repulsive behavior. Two things are for sure: living in America certainly does have its perks, and those "problems" that seemed pertinent to me before I was educated on the events in Congo don't seem quite so important anymore.
Upon first realizing the devastating events going on in Congo by watching a special on MTV about members of the band Sum 41 visiting the nation and seeing firsthand what it was like, I was absolutely disgusted. With an unstable government and the militia now ruling the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), women and children are now living in the constant fear of rape and violence. According to Ms. Magazine, Across the DRC are tens of thousands of women like this: physically ravaged, emotionally terrorized, financially impoverished. Except for a few fortunate others, these women have no help of any kind. Eight years of war have left the country in ruins, and Congolese women have been victims of rape on a scale never seen before. However, what is most horrifying is not just that the militia are raping these women, but rather how they are being raped. Gang-raped, raped with branches or bayonets, and then mutilated by these men, many of the women who survive are so physically damaged that they will never be able to bear children due to the shredded and torn nature of their vaginas with little to no medical help available to them.
What's even worse is that, according to the same article, an estimated 30 percent of the women raped in Congo's war are infected with HIV because as many as 60 percent of the combatants are believed to have the virus. With a staggering estimate of 59,000 women and 15,000 children living with HIV/AIDS in a 2001 Human Development Report conducted by United Nations Development Programme, it's no wonder that the nation's people are in desperate need of help and reform.
So why is this happening to such helpless victims, many of whom are habitually shunned after the incident by their husbands, parents and communities as if they had wanted to be taken and raped? A social worker in Congo, Louise Nzigire, believes that all groups in the war have used rape as a cheap and simple weapon because it eradicates the population and is more easily acquired than bullets or bombs.
Frankly, I find the whole idea sickening, and find myself wanting to do what I can to help, which doesn't seem like much. Nevertheless, what I can do is try to educate those unaware of the situation and expose the actions of the militia for their completely repulsive behavior. Two things are for sure: living in America certainly does have its perks, and those "problems" that seemed pertinent to me before I was educated on the events in Congo don't seem quite so important anymore.
