Some 200 women gang-raped near Congo UN base.....

[bliss_eternal]

Some 200 women gang-raped near Congo UN base

By MICHELLE FAUL
AP-Associated Press

JOHANNESBURG — Rwandan and Congolese rebels gang-raped nearly 200 women and some baby boys over four days within miles of a U.N. peacekeepers' base in an eastern Congo mining district, an American aid worker and a Congolese doctor said.

Will F. Cragin of the International Medical Corps said Monday that aid and U.N. workers knew rebels had occupied Luvungi town and surrounding villages in eastern Congo the day after the attack began on July 30.

More than three weeks later, the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo has issued no statement about the atrocities and said Monday it still is investigating.

Cragin told The Associated Press by telephone that his organization was only able to get into the town, which he said is about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from a U.N. military camp, after rebels ended their brutal spree of raping and looting and withdrew of their own accord on Aug. 4.

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At U.N. headquarters in New York, spokesman Martin Nesirky said Monday that a U.N. Joint Human Rights team verified allegations of the rape of at least 154 women by combatants from the Rwandan rebel FDLR group and Congolese Mai-Mai rebels in the village of Bunangiri. He said the victims are receiving medical and psycho-social care.

Nesirky said the U.N. peacekeeping mission has a military company operating base in Kibua, some 30 kilometers (about 19 miles) east of the village, but he said FDLR attackers blocked the road and prevented villagers from reaching the nearest communication point.

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excerpts from:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38814397/ns/world_news-africa/?gt1=43001

[ismnotwasm]

1. I didn't want to read this

It's so incredibly fucked up

This comment disturbed me, not for the statistics. Rape statistics are horrible wherever you go, but increase in high stress environments such as war. He needn't have singled out an entire continent, plenty to say about North and South America if we want to 'go there':


"The examples you cite are a drop in the bucket when you look at the overall statistics for Africa. South Africa, for example, recently completed their largest sex crimes survey yet in the country, and 1 in 3 women have said they were raped in their lifetimes. 1 in 3. 25% of men surveyed have admitted to rape, half of which admitted to multiple times. It is considered a rite of passage, "machismo" if you will.

Let that soak in for a second. There are over 48 million people living in South Africa. Now would you like me to start on Ethiopia? Somalia? Or maybe the Congo, or Cameroon.

The examples you cited were during wars or brief conflicts that spanned months or years. This is a way of life in Africa."


Here, He's given a type of 'cultural' permission for rape as a "rite of passage" and "machismo" instead of recognizing it as sociopathic or psychopathic behavior. These kind of comments, I'm assuming it's a male, but I'm not entirely sure, are part of rape culture as far as I'm concerned

At least the women and children sound like they're getting some help and support. I don't even what to think about the HIV rate in that area, another fucked up situation.

[bliss_eternal]

2. Same here...

...I tried not to look, when it appeared on the msn front page. But I was seething about it, while checking my e-mail. When finished, I returned to read it, and posted here.

:cry:

[femrap]

3. Arm the women. nt