Comments on: War Against Women

The Use Of Rape As A Weapon In Congo's Civil War

Woman to woman is a possiblity, yes, but I want to donate directly to the woman and have 100% go directly to her. I fear administrative cost, money wasted and the like. Is there a way? I would like this woman to tell me what she needs and if schooling is it, then provide it. No need to try to educate a woman while her family is starving.
Can anyone help me find Lucienne M''Maroyhi?

I would like, very much, to contact Lucienne M''Maroyhi in Walungu, South Kivu Provience, Democtatic Republic of the Congo.
Please assist me as I would like to help her and her children.
Thank you,
Sharyn

[Fred1935]

I spent 25 years in Zaire/Congo It''s hard to read these comments, especially the one about a bible thumping president being responsible. Clinton was not a bible thumping president. It was the policies of the Clinton administration and Kofi Annan that are responsible for the chaos that engulfs this region. The Canadian General of the UN forces in Rwanda told Annan that there were plans for a massacre and asked permission to stop it before it got started. Annan refused to give his OK, instead he told the general to inform the government, stand back, take no side and do nothing, thus the UN peacekeeper under Annan%u2019 s orders stood by as spectators during the Rwandan massacre. In the mean time Clinton sent an ambassador to Zaire that was hostel to that government and she worked to undermine and weaken the government of Zaire. When Rwanda invaded Zaire, Mobutu requested UN help in repelling the invaders, Clinton''s ambassador to the UN quashed that request, when Mobutu''s troops eventually were able to stop the invasion, Rwanda requested help from Uganda, who refused to intervene without the permission of the U S, they feared having their AID cut off. The request for help went all the way to the White House where Clinton gave his approval for Uganda to invade Zaire and give assistance to Rwanda; he told Uganda to keep it quiet. The combined armies of Rwanda and Uganda quickly overthrew the Mobutu government and the wholesale looting and rape of the country and its people began.

[luane1]

It is hard to believe what is happening to women in Congo. It makes you feel so helpless to not be able to help those that have been effected. To not have the basic feeling of being safe on any level is inconceivable.

[chrisinca1]

There is a world wide war against women ~ from the Congo story here, to genital mutilation, to brutal repression and abuse in most societies. Perhaps we need a new organization with an added purpose: ARM THE WOMEN. I''m ready to see women equipped to defend themselves since no one else can. The progressive programs to raise consciousness, job training etc. are wonderful, but they don%u2019t stop this ingrained brutality, prevalently presented as a natural fact of life. If these brutal & primitive males, whether Congo "soldiers" or Taliban, discovered that their sadism came with a heavy price, perhaps women would have more time & less PTSD to learn beekeeping and other trades with "Women To Women." RAWA''s secret girls'' schools or job training are not enough, are they? If the word "women" in this story was replaced by "Catholics", "Americans", "Jews" or any other group with which we feel very familiar, people would be furious; headlines would be prominent. This story is mostly unknown because (a) this story is based Africa, and (b) the victims are women. Women are systematically brutalized in many, if not most, countries. Watching this, I''ve come to the conclusion that the only way to stop something so pervasive is to organize and fight back.

[joeshmoe121]

nice job, it is odd how men that behave like that are called "soldiers" in the news...and,,,well, others,,, are called terrorists, it''s just a small point...maybe a point of view,...keep up the good work.

[lchaimdel]

Hmmmm%u2026.if this type of rape has been going on for years now, how in the world can anyone truly determine which ethnic group/tribe they belong to?

Example, if an %u201CA%u201D group man rapes a %u201CB%u201D group woman, wouldn%u2019t the child be BOTH %u201CA/B%u201D? And if the child produced is a girl, how could either an A or B man then justify raping or killing that girl a few years later?

If the baby girl only a few years later gets raped by a %u201CC%u201D group man, then isn%u2019t she really part of all 3 groups?

To me this can only mean there really are NO tribes or ethnic groups anymore because after a few generations of rape, there can not possibly be any distinct differences - so what%u2019s truly happening is incest!

Funny that even as the power shifts from A, B, C none of the men in power from any group ever made the punishment for rape castration %u2013 that would end the problem overnight!

Jeanne Swartz
Wilmington, DE

[nancyelm]

I apologize, $$ should be sent womenforwomen.org
Their website will provide info for sending contributions. Again, if each female would send $1.00 in her own name & perhaps another in the name of a woman she admires and males send $1.00 in the name of someone woman they respect, the $$ would be put towards aiding the devestated women of the Congo''s Civil War. PEACE

[nancyelm]

I don''t know what to do or how to help these poor women. I do know they haven''t been far from my thoughts since the 60 minutes piece. How about if every female that hears of these rapes, send Women to Women one dollar? Also, every man that knows a woman he respects sends one dollar?

[darare-2009]

It is extremely troubling that this is happening and so little is being done to prevent this horror. We must do what we can to help these women gain some hope for their future. In my town of Del Mar, CA, we are hosting a fundraiser for Women for Women International on May 22, 2008. We all have the power to do something that will touch the lives of these women and children and help them rebuild their lives, their dignity and their future.

[darare-2009]

It is extremely troubling that this is happening and so little is being done to prevent this horror. We must do what we can to help these women gain some hope for their future. In my town of Del Mar, CA, we are hosting a fundraiser for Women for Women International on May 22, 2008. We all have the power to do something that will touch the lives of these women and children and help them rebuild their lives, their dignity and their future.

[mamakongo]

To b-johnmac Posted at 02:35 PM : Jan 15, 2008; who said that he had visited Panzi hospital. Have you listen to the Congolese women?
Have you ask these women what they wanted?
Have they told you that many who have had reconstructive surgery, were then raped again?
We visited Panzi recently, we did not conduct interview or film them to produce CBS style propaganda video.
We have met, spoken and listen to women, in using %u201CSwahili%u201D and %u201CMashi%u201D local languages! We have opened our arms to allow them to cry and trust us.
They have told us they want the war to end!!! They have told us that they are tired of being interviewed; they do not want to be photographed!!
They are not animals%u2026.but humans%u2026.they ask that the war end!!! They have told us that they have been suffering for a decade and that they know that all these NGOs are benefiting from the money but not doing anything to end the war.!! Many are raped, while they are receiving the so called aids from the NGOs%u2026%u2026. They feel abandoned!!! They feel forgotten!
Even if the UN are there, they do not feel safe as the UN is only protecting the NGOs staffs! Many UN Peace keepers have also raped women, they have been smuggling arms and minerals%u2026.collaborating with rebels!
Find out about the massacre of Bukavu in 2004!!
This happened under the watchful eyes of the UN and the so many NGOs! ask them to help end the war, get your answers from the NGOS and UN and post them!!

[mamakongo]

A message for Klingon69 at 02:17 PM : Jan 15, 2008, who want to be enlighten about great civilisation of Africa%u2026.and the Kongo.
Please go to a real library and read history books. It is pure ignorance to only see existing ruins as proof of civilisation, go beyond that%u2026
Where are the Twins Towers of the World Trade Centre, today?
The missionaries (so called Christians, particularly catholics, abd belgian) destroyed many Congolese temples and status, labelling them as mystical, and devil%u2026.
Some are still there and we know that many more were there too.
We have kept our rich culture%u2026. Our oral tradition, something that will never be taken away from us. And this is why I am telling you to help these women, the war must end!!

Ruins are not the only sign of civilisation!!
Enquire about the origin of algebra, of certain traditions; discovery of antimicrobial%u2026ect%u2026
Have you ever seen real life painting; full of natural colour obtain from the Nature?
Where do you thing the many style of painting comes from%u2026%u2026.
Do you know the real origin of the Piano ?
I feel so sorry for you, as you think you know%u2026.but you don%u2019t%u2026..
You think proof of civilisation is only material%u2026.
Hope that you will seek real enlightenment%u2026

[klingon69]

Because we are human beings, because we should care about our planet, because we should not descend to the apathy that allows big corporations to pillage the world, enabling investors so they can smugly buy one more status item, so that what happens ''''over there'''' should not happen to US.
Posted by lolly58335 at 03:05 PM : Jan 15, 2008

Not a very convincing argument. Because we are human beings, humans have raped, burned, robbed, pillaged...etc this rock we are on. So what are a few million more?
My argument is that many countries that one supported and sent aid into Africa, have stopped, why?
I see the commercials on tv about how for the price of a cup of coffee you can sponsor a child...blah, blah, blah.
What about our own starving children. What about our own crisis''s. Why must we be the savior of this world. I don''t support the war in Iraq, and I don''t support any of this in Africa, but why again I ask, is it our responsibility.

[lolly58335]

I found a website called infomine.com who lists Anglo American on their database. I also did a little searching about AA PLC; apparently they produce metals to make catalytic converters for our automobiles. They also are ''in cahoots''l with the FLN, so they could obtain licenses to dredge mine in the Congo. They also arrested children protestors and activists who protest their methods. I will keep digging. They report a huge increase in revenues to their stockholders this year. How much is tainted with blood? I want to know so I don''t add to their profits.

[lolly58335]

Answer to Klingon69: Because we are human beings, because we should care about our planet, because we should not descend to the apathy that allows big corporations to pillage the world, enabling investors so they can smugly buy one more status item, so that what happens ''over there'' should not happen to US.

[b-johnmac]

I am curious to know why there is not a single mention of COLTAN, or "columbite-tantalite", used in every cell phone in the world. 80% of the world''s coltan is in DR Congo. This is fueling the conflict. I''m convinced...

[b-johnmac]

It is amazing to see such a massive response to one of the world''s worst on-going humanitarian disasters. I agree that NGOs are NOT the answer to all of Africa''s problems. But right now it is a war-zone. We need all nations to come together and stop the use of rape as a weapon of war.

I was at the Panzi Hospital in March and February of this year. Dr. Denis Mukwege is a saint. He and his staff (of women and men) are Congolese and THEY HAVE THE ANSWERS. We have to support them!

There are numerous groups doing "grassroots" work in Congo: Women for Women International (USA), Social Aid For the Elimination of Rape (CANADA), Christian Relief Network (NORWAY).

[klingon69]

when there is this mega-atrocity happening in Africa? Because there is no oil there?
Posted by lolly58335 at 02:20 PM : Jan 15, 2008
Why is this OUR problem? There has been tribal war and ethnic cleansing going on in Africa, since the days of the Hebrew enslavement by the Egyptians, and probably before that. What makes this so different? These atrocities are being, have benn and will be committed regardless of whatever we try to do. If not in the Congo, somewhere else. Africa is a suck-hole, you pour aid, supplies, medicines...etc down into it, they keep asking for more, and cursing us in the same breath.

[klingon69]

Please know your history, you who think you%u2019re such a great civilisation in the USA/Europe, you will be humbled to discover real and great civilisations in Africa.
From a congolese woman
Posted by mamakongo at 11:02 AM : Jan 15, 2008

So, enlighten us. What happened to these alledged "great civilizations"? Where are the ruins, what caused such a disaster to fell these great lands?
In South/Central America there exists ruins of great civilizations to this day, despite being in the corrosive environments of a rain forest. Where are the great ruins and temples of Africa?