What differentiates rape in the Congo from rape in other areas is the frequency, scale and ever new depths of depravity and mutilating brutality with which gang rape is carried out by men with guns on females from 5 months to 80 years old, and an increasing number of men as well.
After working for Congolese women for 4 years with Portland Oregon's Run for Congo Women, following the news very closely, having a close friend whose family lives, chronically hungry, in Congo where the LRA is active, and reading Lisa Shannon's book before it went to the publisher, I have come to the sad conclusion that it is only getting worse there. And that trend will not change until and unless more of us get involved.
In many communities in NE Congo, 90% of the women have been raped. The Congolese Army rapes because 1) it is never paid and is expected to take whatever it needs from the locals, and 2) former militia members are incorporated into its ranks with no process of rehabilitation.
Why? many of you have asked. These are boys and men who have lived like animals in the forest for years, who no longer feel human themselves and are hell bent on tearing to shreds any semblance of normal human life because they have none themselves.
There is no bottom to be reached in human depravity. Someone will always find a more extreme expression of rage and hate. Rage and hate are fathomless.
We have to do all we can to forge the opposite in Congo by extending human bonds of love and connection, dignity and hope to create a countervailing force that supports the many beautiful and good, unsung heroes of the Congo who are struggling to survive and raise their children in these horrific times there. Only then will the landscape change.
It's hard to think about the emotional trauma that comes with rape. But when you add to that the physical devastation due to the sheer brutality of these attacks and the acute pain of being abandoned by family, it's hard to believe these women can face the next day. And then those who are made to carry their rapist's children? To relieve their attacks every day of their pregnancies and see their attackers every day in the eyes of their children??
I am constantly amazed by what the female spirit can survive. And SO, SO angry. So many people have the power to stop this, and they do nothing. If only there were oil in Congo.
The situation in the DRC, as well as Rwanda, calls into question a lot of assumptions about the nature of humans and our capacity for compassion. How can it be that so many people (in this case, men) have lost their humanity? The stories from the region are not unique when considering other war crimes in the modern world, however I liked to think that this level of human-on-human atrocities was more rare. Even the mass killings of civilians with bombs and machine guns are easier to comprehend because the perpetrators are more remote. But these crimes in the DRC are so personal, and involve such cruelty, or rather, complete lack of emotion, of compassion. And there must be tens of thousands of men walking around in this state of mind to be inflicting this many attacks. Not to mention, the families that show no compassion to their mothers and daughters who are suffering. How does such a large group of people loose their humanity? Because if it can happen there, then it can happen anywhere.
@sweetbeans: "How can it be that so many people (in this case, men) have lost their humanity?"
Sadly, this is humanity. They haven't lost it; they've failed to overcome it.
@SarahMC: I'm doing this!: That's something I go back and forth on - are we by nature compassionate, or is it mainly learned? I also wonder if this is partly a gender issue - that women can be treated so inhumanely by both fighters and family.
If you're in New York (or nearby) and you haven't seen Ruined yet, you absolutely must. It is amazing. Please go before it closes. I went a few weeks ago, and it was the most moving (and no, not just depressing, which was what all of my officemates assumed it must be) evening I've spent in the theatre in years. It's stunning. [www.mtc-nyc.org]
@queenieinmanhattan: I was just about to add this same suggestion! Glad I checked first. This play is fantastic and the cast is exceptional. Be prepared to sob in a way you never have. It's unusual to feel so much. Just amazing.
Closing soon too! Next week maybe? Also it's in a small, intimate theater, which makes it especially powerful.
@JerseyGrrrl: I think it was extended again, into September. But, eventually, they will have another show going into the space, so, sadly, the run will have to end. My brother took me a couple of weeks ago (it was his fourth time, since he works for MTC), and I quite literally could not speak afterward, because if I opened my mouth, I would not have been able to stop sobbing - both from joy and from pain. It's an incredible play. Absolutely incredible.
Thanks for this post Megan - it's a subject which needs to be addressed again and again. In 2004 I did a series of articles about the rape of women in IDP camps in the DRC for The Independent and the most horrifying thing about it was the way in which many of the UN soldiers who committed these crimes had committed similar attrocities in Bosnia in the mid-90s but instead of being punished they had simply been relocated to a different war zone.
On top of that there was widespread abuse of local women in the DRC towns by off-duty soldiers, bought about in part by the discrepancies in wealth and education which allowed the men to effectively treat the women (many of whom were really girls) as prostitutes.
Also I know Megan has linked to it before but if you go to the Independent's website you can read Johann Hari's report on his time in the DRC which was a couple of years after my colleague and I wrote our stories. It is an outstanding piece of journalism and should be read by everyone.
When fighting a war against OTHER MEN, why pick on the weak and defenseless? The people not involved in the war? Why? Is rape just some kind of sick sport on the way from one battleground to another? Is it out of boredom? Why?
Not to mention, not only do these women get shunned for a crime that was perpretrated *on them,* but they are also at risk of AIDS in a continent where the disease is probably at pandemic levels in some areas.
@crazy_lady: No, you're prob being realistic. I'm just trying to understand what the "fun" would be in forcing a woman to submit to an assault by 10 different men. Are her screams, her pain a turn-on? I just don't understand this dead-eyed mindset.
The history of the Congo region is very long and heartbreaking, and yet every single source I looked for online seems to start their history at the beginning of the First Congo War, which occurred in the 90s. Although it is not an academic history book, I'd recommend Adam Hochschild's "King Leopold's Ghost" for the fascinating, horrifying, and rarely-told story of the Congo's period as a Colony under Belgian rule. You will be shocked that you (probably) never learned any of this in school, and gain lots of insight into the country's current condition. THe entire region was at some point the personal fiefdom of the King of Belgium, who treated its inhabitants as his own personal slaves, ran the place as a big rubber plantation, and pretty much ruled with an iron fist. There's also a great documentary about this, but I can't find the name right now...Anyway, "Heart of Darkness"? Ever read that? Yes, it's fiction, but you know, it's basically set here as well. The history of the region is filled with so many unspeakable brutalities, and makes the current situation seem almost inevitable.
There's also a great play about Congolese women and rape off Broadway right now called "Ruined", I saw it a few months ago and I highly recommend it. It's closing soon, I think. The playwright, an African American woman, travelled to the DRC and interviewed dozens of rape survivors to get some background for her story. It's excellent.
@Jezebabe: Also worth reading - a biography of Roger Casement, the Irish diplomat who in 1904 along with the journalist Edmund Morel blew the whistle on what was happening in Leopold's Congo.
@Jezebabe: I remember studying the colonial and imperial periods in Europe and the Americas when I was in high school, and it's really amazing how much is glossed over. The way I remember it being presented was that the Europeans and North Americans had some questionable and maybe not entirely ethical or moral practices they carried on in the lands they claimed. But you'd never hear words like genocide used to describe what was done, or anything much more than vague accounts of what it meant to be a slave, whether in the US or the Belgian Congo, or anywhere else. As a result, it made the resulting political turmoil when countries began to demand independence from colonial rule rather confusing and nebulous.
@emilyanne: I think that part is in the doc too...I think the documentary is called White King, Red Rubber, Black Death, I saw it at the Film Forum years ago...
@Jezebabe: oh I know the documentary you mean - i've not actually seen it (though I really should have) but I've read Hochschild's book, which really is excellent.
@Jezebabe: Also there's the issue of coltan, which has been used to fund much of the fighting in the DRC. Most of us probably have some of it on us right now - cellphones, laptops, and digital cameras all contain it!
@emilyanne: The one I saw is the one where there's an actor dressed like King Leopold who is sitting inside some sort of glass cage. Actually, that part of the movie was pretty bad. There's a documentary version of the book too, but that's not the one I saw. That one was part documentary, part imagined dialogue between King Leopold and a Congolese person, or something. Admittedly, the "dialogue" part kind of sucked.
It's far too easy to forget that such terrible things are happening in our world. Thank you for the images and the accompanying stories - they may break the heart but it's important not to ignore them.
@crazy_lady: What can we do?
1. We can sponsor a Congolese woman who has been brutalized for a year through Women for Women International for only $27 a month, so that she can be supported in healing from her trauma, having a network of support from other women with similar experiences, rebuilding her life and in gaining economic footing for survival (through training and seed money in how to run a small business). You can write to your "sister" so that she will know that you care whether she lives or dies. It means the world to these women and often literally makes the difference between life and death for their children. Go to www.runforcongowomen.org.
2. You can contact your Senators to co-sponsor and pass S.1067, the Lord's Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act of 2009, as well as S.891 the Congo Conflict Minerals Act of 2009 (minerals needed for cell phones, computers, and video games drive the conflict and ever deepending chaos so those minerals can be exploited).
3. You can contact your state Representative to sponsor a companion bill to S.891 (Congo Conflict Minerals Act of 2009) in the House -- and to co-sponsor (if she/he hasn't already done so), H.R.2478 (the companion bill to S.1067 on the Lord's Resistance Army mentioned above).
4. You can educate yourself and your network and get them involved in sponsoring Congolese women.
5. Next Spring, you can read "A Thousand Sisters" by Lisa J. Shannon, when it is released by Seal Press, and if you like the book, form a bookclub and post a review on Amazon.com. Shannon's account is imminently readable and gives a living overview of the situation in Congo while she tells how her connections with the Congolese women she has sponsored and met has changed her life.
This was a beautiful, tragic, and moving post, but it simply makes me think about how many women in how many other countries in the world have suffered or are suffering the exact same tragedies. Rape is used as a weapon of war everywhere.
I couldn't get past the second photo and caption of the 10 year old. I just can't even wrap my brain around that kind of suffering. What an awful world.
I read that article in the NY Times and I was so heart-broken for all of the rape victims and survivors. I don't even know how to process living in a world where people willingly do these things to one another.
Is there any way that we can revoke the penis? As fun as the lovestick can be for both parties involved in a consensual tryst, so much harm is done with them that I do believe that maybe men should have their penises temporarily revoked. Maybe they should sit in a corner for awhile, think about what they've done. And then, when they are very sorry and understand that their penises are not for hurting people, maybe then they'll get them back. (A similar technique worked for me during my phase of using my Barbies as high velocity brother-hitters.)
08/07/09
08/07/09
After working for Congolese women for 4 years with Portland Oregon's Run for Congo Women, following the news very closely, having a close friend whose family lives, chronically hungry, in Congo where the LRA is active, and reading Lisa Shannon's book before it went to the publisher, I have come to the sad conclusion that it is only getting worse there. And that trend will not change until and unless more of us get involved.
In many communities in NE Congo, 90% of the women have been raped. The Congolese Army rapes because 1) it is never paid and is expected to take whatever it needs from the locals, and 2) former militia members are incorporated into its ranks with no process of rehabilitation.
Why? many of you have asked. These are boys and men who have lived like animals in the forest for years, who no longer feel human themselves and are hell bent on tearing to shreds any semblance of normal human life because they have none themselves.
There is no bottom to be reached in human depravity. Someone will always find a more extreme expression of rage and hate. Rage and hate are fathomless.
We have to do all we can to forge the opposite in Congo by extending human bonds of love and connection, dignity and hope to create a countervailing force that supports the many beautiful and good, unsung heroes of the Congo who are struggling to survive and raise their children in these horrific times there. Only then will the landscape change.
08/07/09
I am constantly amazed by what the female spirit can survive. And SO, SO angry. So many people have the power to stop this, and they do nothing. If only there were oil in Congo.
08/07/09
08/07/09
Sadly, this is humanity. They haven't lost it; they've failed to overcome it.
08/07/09
08/07/09
08/07/09
[www.mtc-nyc.org]
08/07/09
Closing soon too! Next week maybe? Also it's in a small, intimate theater, which makes it especially powerful.
08/07/09
08/07/09
On top of that there was widespread abuse of local women in the DRC towns by off-duty soldiers, bought about in part by the discrepancies in wealth and education which allowed the men to effectively treat the women (many of whom were really girls) as prostitutes.
Also I know Megan has linked to it before but if you go to the Independent's website you can read Johann Hari's report on his time in the DRC which was a couple of years after my colleague and I wrote our stories. It is an outstanding piece of journalism and should be read by everyone.
08/07/09
08/07/09
08/10/09
08/07/09
Not to mention, not only do these women get shunned for a crime that was perpretrated *on them,* but they are also at risk of AIDS in a continent where the disease is probably at pandemic levels in some areas.
08/07/09
If you can get away with it...why wouldn't they?
Maybe I'm being far too cynical.
08/07/09
08/07/09
08/07/09
There's also a great play about Congolese women and rape off Broadway right now called "Ruined", I saw it a few months ago and I highly recommend it. It's closing soon, I think. The playwright, an African American woman, travelled to the DRC and interviewed dozens of rape survivors to get some background for her story. It's excellent.
08/07/09
08/07/09
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08/07/09
08/07/09
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08/07/09
08/07/09
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08/07/09
1. We can sponsor a Congolese woman who has been brutalized for a year through Women for Women International for only $27 a month, so that she can be supported in healing from her trauma, having a network of support from other women with similar experiences, rebuilding her life and in gaining economic footing for survival (through training and seed money in how to run a small business). You can write to your "sister" so that she will know that you care whether she lives or dies. It means the world to these women and often literally makes the difference between life and death for their children. Go to www.runforcongowomen.org.
2. You can contact your Senators to co-sponsor and pass S.1067, the Lord's Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act of 2009, as well as S.891 the Congo Conflict Minerals Act of 2009 (minerals needed for cell phones, computers, and video games drive the conflict and ever deepending chaos so those minerals can be exploited).
3. You can contact your state Representative to sponsor a companion bill to S.891 (Congo Conflict Minerals Act of 2009) in the House -- and to co-sponsor (if she/he hasn't already done so), H.R.2478 (the companion bill to S.1067 on the Lord's Resistance Army mentioned above).
4. You can educate yourself and your network and get them involved in sponsoring Congolese women.
5. Next Spring, you can read "A Thousand Sisters" by Lisa J. Shannon, when it is released by Seal Press, and if you like the book, form a bookclub and post a review on Amazon.com. Shannon's account is imminently readable and gives a living overview of the situation in Congo while she tells how her connections with the Congolese women she has sponsored and met has changed her life.
08/10/09
08/07/09
08/07/09
08/07/09
08/05/09
08/05/09
08/05/09