I don't normally use this blog as a forum to promote "causes," but as a place to broadcast and distinguish the truly bizarre. In this instance I believe the cause supervenes any of my personal wishes for Bizarre Stuff.
The Democratic Republic of Congo is host to the world's deadliest conflict since World War II.
And women and girls have borne the brunt of this horrific crisis, with rape as a weapon of war on a scale seen nowhere else in the world.
But you can do something about it.
Tell President-Elect Obama to announce his plan to end sexual violence in Congo.
Eastern Congo is the worst place in the world to be a woman in 2008. Rape and sexual violence are routinely used as a weapon to destroy women, families, and communities. It is time to get serious about ending the conflict and protecting and empowering Congo's women.
The US government is in a unique position to take action immediately. It can promote peace through aggressive diplomatic efforts, increase UN patrols and support organizations that help keep women safe, and work to ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice.
Oxfam America has joined with the RAISE Hope for Congo campaign to raise awareness about the crisis. And by adding your voice, you are helping to raise awareness about the horrors of this nine-year conflict.
Tell the president-elect to announce his plan to end the vicious cycle of sexual violence.
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The carnage inflicted on women during every world conflict is impossible to ignore. Women live in virtually constant danger for most of their lives. When conflict breaks out, one of its first and ugliest manifestations is the open season on women and girls that inevitably follows. Only removal of these predators from society, and mandatory counseling and treatment to insure they are truly rehabilitated, holds the greatest promise. To do less is to continue to say women are less worthy than men.
ReplyDeleteIn certain parts of the world it is widely believed, and in many instances codified in law, that women are inferior to men. In order to prove the truth of this proposition contests are held annually in the public squares of towns and cities throughout these countries in which women and men compete against each other, in such contests as arm wrestling, weight lifting, pole vaulting and measuring who has the longest penis. Women invariably lose, especially in the long penis category, thus demonstrating the validity of the laws.
ReplyDeleteIn Saudi Arabia several years ago, a group of women proposed that in alternating years, the size of women's breasts should be measured instead of the length of the male competitors' penises. The women were stoned to death and the proposal was defeated in a subsequent vote by the remaining contestants.