The crimes that are being committed in Congo right now are very sad and fueled by hate, yet many men of the militia root for their fellow man as the gang rape occurs which to me is an extremely putrid and vile act. What’s even sadder is that these women will be looked down upon in their society when they were the victims. Not only in Congo but around the world women are always subjected to rape, and there is no justification for taking a woman’s dignity and pride in that manner or any, especially young girls like the one in the video who gave birth. However I am glad some of these victims are being helped by the Women for Women organization. Hopefully one day the situation in Congo gets resolved and they can live in peace without the threat of rape.
Ok, Oscar, but what kind of hate? And what fules it other than the war? Let's try to explore man's avenues of violence, man's preconceptions of what is a "woman," etc, etc.
Speaking specifically of the content in the video, the male perception of women in war-stricken (and sometimes safe) zones in Africa seems to go beyond conventional sexism. I feel many factors go into fueling these acts of hatred, from the strife arisen of economic issues to even political ones. The biggest impact, though, I believe is from deep rooted traditions of the female's place in that society itself, which, while probably varying from region to region, has remained virtually unchanged for hundreds of years. This to me forms the platform for what follows.
Notions of man's inherent value over women, at whatever degree, already is enough of a shift to tip the scales. The grander value appropriated to men consequently takes value away from the woman; this is the platform from which war adds another level. In this case, legions of violent, undisciplined, and many times very young and uneducated men join the fire, and caught up in the actions of war, take those notions of the lowly value of women, or more precisely, what they have been taught and led to believe, even feel, and degrade it even further to the "nothing" referred to in the video.
I also apply this in a more general sense to the world at large in the same categories of society, religion, and otherwise; systems like the common world-wide patriarchy, popular Abrahamic religions worshiping a single male god, etc... all these influences depict and forward the view of man as the de facto power over women.
I think is amazing the work that Woman for woman International is doing with this victims. They are not only helping woman instead they are giving hope to a country that is seeking a future. Education is the most important in matters of increasing Congo as a country, with education they can stop this kind of attacks and put an end to the suffering and fear of all the women.
Regarding the issue of "manliness", it is something that is dealt with in every society and social group. It's definition is molded according to what is "socially accepted" and molded by ideas in society. This can come from media, popular ideas, etc. In the United States, commonly the idea of "manliness" is compared to the "tough, rough" attitude which has been shown by the male population ranging from bullying to picking fights in many social situations. I personally experienced an exmaple of this yesterday on the bus where two men, one Cuban, one African were arguing because the Cuban man was walking too slow and the African man made a remark about it. The confrontation involved threats of "strength" which in this case was being merely equated to the physical strength of the two. This is a typical example of what "manliness" is compared to in societies.
In Congo, it has taken the form of the aggressive symbol of raping women along with murdering them and abusing them physically. This is something that does not shock me nor surprise me. Congo has a long history of violence and exploitation along with the many other African countries that have a similar story. The psychological use of rape as a weapon is something that has been used before and is effective in the sense that it instills fear in women and keeps them quiet on the matter. Especially when it comes to image in society women have a disadvantage as it is in the Congo for being considered inferior in society.
The gang rape occurremces that have been taking place in Congo serve as a weapon not only of fear but also of destruction against the Congo community. These acts go against the human rights of these women as well as the rights of the members of the society. It clearly exploits the peace and stability of the whole community and causes many issues involving the silence and humiliation that comes with the actions themselves.
This is an issue that has been present for a very long time and needs dealing with. That among the many other issues that need taking care of in Africa. Those are my thoughts.
popular Abrahamic religions worshiping a single male god, etc... all these influences depict and forward the view of man as the de facto power over women.
The gang rapes that are being committed in Congo are not caused by hate, but because they are unemployed men with no moral conduct. They feel as they posses more power by raping innocent defenseless women to prove male dominance. They may gain a sense of accomplishment and self-worth by degrading another woman. I am also glad that these women have each other to go through what they are going through, it must be hard trusting other men after something like this happens to them, and im also glad to hear that the Women for Women organization is there to keep the women going.
To begin with, it was just horrible to realize that right now as we go on with our daily lives there are thousands of women being gang-raped by these men that were conceived by women in the first place. There is no justification for this violence, but I suppose the events that happened in their childhood has somehow shaped their attitude towards women. Perhaps their fathers showed no respect toward their mothers to begin with therefore they have the lowest possible concept of the role of women in the world. The lack of education can also be accounted as a great factor for the violence in today.
The type of hate pouring out of these men committing gang rapes, may not necessarily be pure hatred for the female persona but, hatred of their surroundings, childhood and other factors they were exposed to. However, by no means am I justifying the crimes they commit. Perhaps some of them never wanted the live they have; most of these men are put in the militia as children against their own freedom. Violence breeds more violence, men who have been nurtured as they were see death, murder, chaos and victimization as a part of the norm. Nonetheless, ever since the male gender has walked this Earth many see women as “breeding systems”, so who’s to say that men from Congo of the militia are any different, these gang rapes occur to show off their masculinity; in every military there is always a commander and chief certain generals or sergeants and of course foot soldiers; to a certain extent maybe the rape is encouraged by the lower division soldiers to portray a level of dominance since they are at the mercy of whoever is in charge.
(This is a post responding for my previous I hope it answers anything left out from the original Professor)
The first thought that entered my mind was, “this is horrific!” Being a woman, I can connect with the women of Congo. The connection is not that I have been raped. It is the connection that I, too, have been looked upon as an object; an object that may be manipulated, harassed, or emotionally scarred by the haughty eyes of a male. To degrade a woman like the militias have done is a horrid crime yet authorities (mostly men) choose to be indifferent! My first view is that this is the result of war but there may be something else unconsciously being done by these men. If we look at this from another perspective, it may appear to be something that men have to do. It may appear to be something that is natural, a way of survival. Evolutionists say that men are doing this because they want to reproduce to conserve the family gene; that men are wired with a competitiveness to be on top. They cannot allow others, in this case women, to manipulate them but they must manipulate them by force or violence to get what they need to survive. Although, someone may argue that the militia are doing this only because they want fear to rein for their cause, these men may be doing these deeds unconsciously as a way of reproducing for their own advantage! Is this exploitative? Yes! Rape is an essential and beneficiary to complete the task of reproducing. A man simply needs a woman to do this. He does not have to get to know her before she willingly gives into intercourse. He just has to select any woman to be his baby’s carrier. Although they do this unconsciously it is considered exploitative on behalf of the rapist because he is doing this to have the upper hand.
In the past like in the present women have always been looked down on, I believe the women in Congo are being fed fear so that this way men can have the upper hand. In the past years women have been becoming more independent and are doing things that they weren’t allowed to do before. Perhaps men being in an environment where there is war increases the need for them to be more violent towards women so they can feel in place. Where there is war there is an increase in fear, violence, and frustration. Those committing these crimes probably feel that by implanting fear into women they will be superior and have a sense of control over something even if it’s the life of a woman or the reputation of a family. I am happy that there is actually an organization trying to do something to help these women speak their voices and fight for their rights.
I don't know how true this is, but then again, who knows how true anything is unless they've actually been there to see it? Anyway, I've heard from the history channel that there's two versions of the book in the bible called Genesis. One is the traditional: God created the Animals, then Adam to take care of them, and then finally Eve(from Adam's ribs) to take care of Adam. This version, Adam's head of the household or "in charge" sort of speak. The second version: God again created the animals but then He created both Adam and Eve at the same time, SEPERATELY. Now this time around, they(Adam and Eve) had equal authority. Now obviously the second version is not in the Bible, it's not popular, and it may not be true. But who's to say that it isn't true and that the first one is? Afterall the Bible were written by messengers of God, but they were men and they were also human beings(which are all flawed with sin). I can see the motive for them to write the first version of Genesis and that is to control women. And so in conclusion, I think that the Bible is a big factor to why some men feel as though they have some type of advantage over women. This is why they feel as though they have the right to instil fear into us by committing those odious acts. This is a way to get and keep control of us sort of speak. Please professor, prove me wrong because I hate to have such a thought about something so sacred. Yet, when I saw that program on t.v. a lot of my catholic schooling came crashing down, that's when I really began to ask myself: What can I really believe now? This was really upsetting to read about today, but apparently these things are happening. I feel so bad for these women.
After reading this, I was horrified and disgusted at the inhumanity of all. To begin with, these men have always seen women as being dirty and unworthy, which we aren't. Unfortunately these cultures do not have the level of education and humanity that other cultures do have. I think these so-called men have a twisted minded that I will never refer them as manliness. To me, manliness is a man who has physicality, confidence, who takes responsibility for his actions, and who respects his peers, elders, and members of the opposite sex. I do agree that this is a new weapon of fear towards women. Women do not have the same strength as the men have, to defend themselves. The thing that disturbed me more is that knowing the fact that these men after raping these innocent women, they will torture them to death. Luckily some survive but of course, they're left suffering physically and mentally. However, It is great to hear that there's an organization helping women around the world, that faces some of the greatest obstacles. I just hope that this will stop soon for all women.
What is to be expected from men that were raised in violence, with no proper education, no moral standards, and that have no one to stop them? These men are savages that are taught to inflict violence and pain. From the soldiers they fight and kill, to the women they take their perverse frustrations out on. These rebels create a living hell for innocent beings in every village they come to terrorize. Since these rebels confront violence much through their lives, they have no remorse for anything they commit. The efforts made by Women For Women is a grand help for these phsically and emotionally battered women. The fact that in their society it's considered to bring dishonor to a rape victims family and community, makes it even more difficult upon the victims. Cruel and inhumane the intentions of these men. To rape a woman in the presence of their family and village, mainly for male dominance satisfaction. In my opinion, these are not men, but sick and helpless people with no dignity nor respect. Prayers to all the suffering women around the world.
I don't understand how this can exist in the world. How can there be a society where men rape and torture women, get away with it, and the victim is the one who gets the blaim? Even more important how could any man even consider this worse than animal-like behaviour? How could any man consider this "manliness"? manliness is not the word, but rather it is cowardace; cordace that these men express there violence towards women because they can not fight back. I pray that the Women for Women organization may continue there efforts and that The violence and war may come to an end in this society. Most importantly, however, I pray that the society will adapt there philosophy to the problem and to stand up to the perpetrators, not the victims.
Women get raped frequently each day by these desperate people who were most likely abused by a family, friends, or just a simple stranger like it happens everyday. Man are willing to rape a woman to make their life a living hell. Those women's who live to tell the story or their experienced gang rape are either at a point of commiting suicide, have a disease, need help through a organization. Africa basically have the worst abductions on women. I give as my personal opinion that men are that way because of experienced situations or just what they are leaving now. Africa actually goes through the worst economic times and have hate towards that. So many African women are pregnant at this very point and with a child of a unknown father, that probably carried HIV. I feel disgusted on how authorities don't bring this into consideration. This topic has to be the saddest thing i have read. I know this is nothing im suppost to post up in the blog but just to share it with the rest of the class, a song written by Tupac Shakur called Keep ya Head Up "And since we all came from a woman Got our name from a woman and our game from a woman I wonder why we take from our women Why we rape our women, do we hate our women? I think it's time to kill for our women Time to heal our women, be real to our women And if we don't we'll have a race of babies That will hate the ladies, that make the babies And since a man can't make one He has no right to tell a woman when and where to create one So will the real men get up I know you're fed up ladies, but keep your head up"
These crimes that are being committed in not only Congo but as well as other countries in Africa are utterly inhumane. The way these rebel men are acting will result in the downfall of mankind. If this continues little by little man will regress back to their barbaric ways. These men are trying to be at the top of the food chain, they want to strike fear into the hearts of the weak and defenseless and maintain male dominance throughout the land. Their hate is not fueled by women or anger it is fueled by power and fear. The more the rebels raid and ravage the villages the less optimism village people will have causing them to give up and die off. WE must come to a conclusion to solving this problem, the U.S must intervene in this crisis, but in the meanwhile the civilians must come together and stand up strong against the rebellion.
The situation that Congo woman are having to deal with is horrible. It makes you want to ask the men why they would do this. Have they no pride or respect or value for the sex of there mothers, grandmothers and sisters. The answer is no , there is no respect. They probably think, to my mind , that the woman should hurt because the men hurt. That they should feel fear because they feel fear. They turn to wild animals ,with no dignity. How would they feel if it were them, or someone they loved. Women have become the weapon’s and the prizes in war. A fact we have always know since the Viking rages . So why us? Why woman? Because we are considered weaker , dumber , defenseless to them. Perhaps we will never know . The point of this problem is how to prevent it . Maybe if the government gets involved and builds a sanctuary for the victim’s and there children. They could be better protected. But the most surprising thing for me , is how the woman respond with love and protection to there children , the one’s that were created by such horrid torment. Anyone can say , the child is not to blame and of course its not but, we are only human and it wouldn’t be strange to hate the aftermath of the rape. Many do, all over the world woman have abortions because of rape. But these woman don’t speak of hatred but protection for the innocence that was denied to them.
Society has a stereotype that “manliness” means showing superiority to women, which in Congo goes to the extreme of raping and abusing women in horrific ways. The cause of this stereotype probably began with the competitiveness for survival presented by the theory of evolution that only the strong survive and the weak are cut off. We can see this more clearly in animals, but in this case, it is more subtle. The need to be powerful and thereby meet the standards of “survival of the fittest” may cause these men to seek violence; in order to inflict fear and therefore be “strong”. Their “manliness” or power can also be demonstrated through the amount of mates or sexual experiences he has.
Society has a stereotype that “manliness” means showing superiority to women, which in Congo goes to the extreme of raping and abusing women in horrific ways. The cause of this stereotype probably began with the competitiveness for survival presented by the theory of evolution that only the strong survive and the weak are cut off. We can see this more clearly in animals, but in this case, it is more subtle. The need to be powerful and thereby meet the standards of “survival of the fittest” may cause these men to seek violence; in order to inflict fear and therefore be “strong”. Their “manliness” or power can also be demonstrated through the amount of mates or sexual experiences he has.
This "manliness" and male superiority has been seen for millenniums in history, and not only in the human creature. These socially morbid and morally unethical actions are correlated with violence; causation I do not know, but they are definitely correlated. This is evident at a psychological and biological level of the mind. As the article explained, rape has become a victory celebration of sorts, and being competitive, humans always want to win. Therefore, a rape signifies a win. Back to the sociological level of the situation after these women are raped people who are not victims of this crime frown upon them, as if they are below the level of contribution to society and should not exist. This includes their families, husbands and children. First, I don't believe this frowning upon is fair; these women have endured one of man's worst sins helplessly and forcefully. Thankfully, Women for Women International is addressing this situation and helping these victims restart their life. The organization is not contributing to solving the source of the problem, but rather anticipate the horrible outcomes. We need more international intervention in helping deal with these rebels and stop the root of the problem. Instead of helping women and villages back on their feet, there should be more international concern with the main problem, though I am aware of political difficulties and such. Every time there has been government conflict or a resource race on the continent of Africa, nothing good has ever resulted. Rather the people of these nations are left to deal with violence, wars, battles and blood shed. Ivory, Diamonds, the seventeenth and eighteenth century slave trades and the attempt of European colonization have all resulted in violence and dehumanizing-like brutalities, both in war and toward women and children. What has happened to the ancient days of the great Timbuktu, Aksum, and the trans-Sahara trade of the 3rd century?
Who can explain the thoughts or reasoning of any person let alone an entire people. Although we are individuals, region and beliefs highly influence who we are. We must understand that these are not crimes for these people, this is a way of life; a life that has been taught to them. Perhaps we are so blindsided by our own way of life that we do not believe that people can be taught these thing or bred to commit such acts. Naturally men tend to be more aggressive and women more nurturing, not to say that they do not experience both. As I said before region does play a factor, a key factor in how these tendencies develop. In our modern day ‘utopia’ we value women more so than in our own past (with the exception of those who are stern to old beliefs). You grow up learning things, doing things in the way of your people, growing as a people, believing as one. We are religiously attached to our technology and believe it as our ‘holy light’. And even though many countries may not agree with us and not share that belief, we still continue to follow it and pursue any and all means to expand that growth. Congo is no different, raping women and defiling them has become there way. They don’t see what they do as any deferent from us, in the sense of being a people. They are the same because we as a people have grown together and function as a whole (our government, constant technological growth) as have they grown together as a people. A people who believe the same things and continue to express those beliefs the only way they know how.
Honestly, looking at both videos and reading the article i am speechless and mortified as well. I just cant believe that such things happen in Congo. I feel so bad for those woman out there having to deal with the rape and the phychological damage to their brains. This makes it even worse, the fact that those things are going on in this time, i mean in this time period where they should have a good government system, but i see that those poor people have a bad a really bad situation on their hands, and as i am writting this i am asking where is the GOVERNMENT??? where is the police?? where is the order??? How have they let this go on without doing anything abou this issue. It is vey sad because sometimes we complaint about our lives here and looking at this just makes me sick and makes me realize how wrong we are somtimes, this poor woman are battleling everyday to make it out alive and in one peace and here we are complaining because we have a bad job or because someone yelled at us or because our significant other left us, when in reality the real issues are the things, the situations this poor woman are going trhough. Honestly it is no life to be wondering whats going to happen next, wehter they will get rape , killed or what not. I would like to give thank to woman for woman, the organization that has helped most of this poor people that are in desperate need of any kind of help that can be given to them. They have done an amazing job and i am really please to see that at least someone is doing something for this woman, and something i will never for get is that "One woman can change anything, BUT, Many woman can change everything." Well said, and i do agree, the most beautiful thing God created was the woman itself, how can someone be so unhuman and try to hurt them so badly. It is sad to say but thats sometimes the true nature of men. Honestly, may God bless those woman and may he helped them ge through those horrific times that they are going through.
I think this is a very interesting and informative article. A lot of us do not know what women go through in other countries. As we can see, many men have no respect for them. It is very sad the fact that gang-rape is so common in Congo. It shows how little they care about women. I think I can somewhat agree with the article when it relates this violence with manliness. There are certain men that feel powerful and superior after raping a woman. In the video, psychologist Joseph K. says that raped women in our culture lose most of their value to society. This prevents many raped women to be ashamed of sharing their stories. My friend’s cousin got raped in Colombia, and he knows how hard it was for her to open up and tell the police about it. He said that even though this happened two years ago, the girl is still traumatized and she is scared of any man’s intentions towards her. I actually think that organizations like the “Women for Women Foundation” is a great way of letting them know that they are not alone and that many people want to prevent situations like this from happening to other women.
Violence did become more intense due to the man's perspective on masculinity. They feel that they have to take a stand and not get bullied around for what is theirs. In Nigeria, those who have more authority over the lower class, they feel as though they could do anything to those lower class persons because they could do nothing about it. Since women aren't thought of having authority, the men take advantage of that. And the fact that getting raped is viewed as humiliating, the women would most likely be quiet about the situation. Sometimes men punish women when they commit a crime by not placing them in jail, but by raping them.
I have no words to describe what I felt when read what was happening. In a way a small part of me wanted to go out and hurt someone. The violence seen was something to be expected only of the worst nightmares. To think that something like this could happen and is happening in many places is devastating. Women are not objects for men to simply play with and what they please. Women should be respected, they are the ones whom bring forth life into this world. This is simply unacceptable though what discourages me the most is that very few people are stepping up to the situation. Should we not all as a species unite to stop such heinous acts or have we all forsaken the women in those horrible conditions. It is my opinion that countries should create a safe haven for these innocent victims.
Evil presents itself as unimaginable things that we dont notice. However this is not the case in Congo, where fear, evil and helpless are shown on a daily basis.Women face atrocius treatments by man who are not punished for their crimes and therefore unleashing terror in women. But what drives man to be violent?. eventhough the world sees this as a brutal act, for their society it has become part of their routine not saying that its ok but acceptable because of the lack of law enforcement on this issue. Since its been going on for so long its something that they grow up with, therefore they learn it and accept it.
After reading the article and watching all those testimonies we should analyze the 2 parts: those desperate raped women and the attitude of those men. First of all, being raped constitutes a trauma, most of the time that last forever. Sometimes, those women who have experienced a rape acquire diseases such as HIV, Hepatitis B, etc, which will constitute another reason to never forget about what happened. I think it is a very good idea to create an “association” where they can get together and talk about their experiences, so they can unburden themselves. Sharing information could also help them to realize they are not alone in this world, and to gain in self esteem. On the other hand, I also believe that those men participating in these horrendous crimes have a “black background” and with this I mean that they must have experienced something similar in their childhood that left a lifetime mark on them. Without excusing their unforgiving acts, I think most of them have also been victim of these atrocious crimes, and they might see them as regular behaviors. According to some interviews I have watched, most of the men don’t see these actions as brutal but normal behaviors.
Reading this article was absolutely horrifying I was appalled at the fact that these men can go unpunished after having committed such horrendous crimes. I believe that these men are animals who have lost all sense of humanity and reason. These women will carry this physical and emotional scar for the rest of their lives and they will never be the same again. I feel very angry that the government of that country has done nothing to protect these women and bring those animals to justice. I am thankful that I live in a country where these wrongs wouldn’t go unpunished and wish we can somehow send some form of help to those women whether it be free medical care, psychological help, and of course a team to bring those men to justice! I will pray for those women and believe that nothing goes unpunished no matter how long it takes, whether in this world or the next, those monsters will be condemned.
First of all, It is really sad to see the statitics and to find out they were more than 10,000 rapes in Congo in the past 10 years, and still it continues happening as of today!.Being raped and tortured by someone or even worse in front of your children would be the worse and more horrified act that it can happened to someone. I think the UN has being really "weak" providing help to the women in Congo and to "soft" against those rapists. Also, it makes me wonder, how lucky we are by living in America and "most of us" take things for granted by comparing the way we live and how they live in "Congo", but we still do not do anything about it. I bet "most of us" heard this new on tv but we changed the channel and ignored it completaly because we are already "stress out" about the economical recession. Let's be more "proactive" by helping in any way we can to those unfortunately people in Congo.
After reading this, the crimes that man are committing is inhumanity. How can man do this we are in the 21st century, don't they have dignity or respect toward women? Is like they have so much hate inside of them, as well maybe they don't know how to confront their own problems; like probably abuse throughout childhood, or fear. Therefore, they confront it with the weak ones that are women, specially younger women that can't take care of themselves. And what is sadder that they rape them in front of their family and at the end the family will dishonor them, specially their husband. And what I'm more surprised is that the women has a great love towards their child even though it comes from those kind of men’s. However, the women are been help by the Women for Women International, their still more to be done. It might take years to resolve this crimes, but it will always comes back, like it was in the past it would be in the future as well.
After watching the videos and read the article, I do not explain how things like that can happen in these days because there are many international organizations that would protect the rights of the woman. It is a shame that nowadays women should to remain silent about the mistreatment that are submitted and that they feel embarrassed when it's not something they should feel ashamed about, woman should speak to be protect and to defend their rights .Although the authorities should do something about it and stop such abuse, not only against women but against the general population, I am not surprise that the government doesn’t do anything, as in many other countries and I am not only referring to Africans countries,the government often ignore these cases because of "fear" of being attacked. On the other hand I do not think that is a sign of manliness, I think men who do this are mentally ill, no one in their right juice will attack a woman that way. I believe is good there is organizations that care about these women who are battered but isn’t be better to do something for them before they become victims of these men?
After reading this article I can state that the situation in Congo is inhumane. I as a woman can imagine what a life of fear, pain and tragedy these women are going through. Any culture would find the crimes that are being committed as acts of pure hatred and evil. This is way more than a “manliness” crime of war, it goes beyond that. Men are reveling against their own communities and women are their weapons to do this by reducing them to nothing, leaving them traumatized and abused. It’s like these men forgot who they’re really in war with and they are creating another war against the community. I strongly believe that these rapes are being committed to show power, they are not only raping these women but they are raping them in front of their husbands, proving they can do anything they want to them and leaving not only the women but also their husband, their family and the whole community as powerless. There is no good reason to why these men do this I just can’t understand how can people do this too each other and how is it that it goes unpunished for so long before someone does something about it. It is crucial that someone needs to step in and do something not only to protect this community but most important to end this humiliation in order for all the victims to fully recover and be able to rebuilt their lives.
I would not only consider this situation to be cruel, but mostly an act of manliness. I believe that this is more of a governmental problem. If someone with power (by that I mean a president) doesn’t do anything to stop this violence, then this is going to develop as part of the culture and the next generations to come are going to consider it as something that they shouldn’t be alarmed about. Its all about the interest and the intensions to start making BIG changes. Some of these women are trying to change their lives by making a few steps and helping themselves. Sadly others can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel because these marks are too deep. But this issue has gotten out of their hands and new norms and procedures should be taken in consideration. Anasay Sieiro
I think it’s sick what these men are doing to the women in Congo. It doesn’t surprise me though. I think maybe these men hurt, rape and kill these innocent women not only to show that they are manly men, but also because they are full of hatred. I do not think rape should be used an as excuse for “manliness” nor should the war be used as an excuse. Abusing, fighting, killing and looking down on another person do not make one manly. It makes them ugly and a coward. Especially in this case, it’s not a fair fight for the women. These women are tied up so they can’t fight back and their husbands are also tied up so they can’t interfere. These men probably grew up an ugly life. It probably started with one sick man thinking raping a woman or two would show his neighbors that he’s tough. That woman’s child might have seen the man taking advantage of his mother and grows up full of anger and hatred. Even though in his mind he wouldn’t want anyone to ever go through what his mother did, he ended up doing what was done to her. Just like in an abusive marriage. A lot of the times the children grow up and become the abusive partner in a relationship. It might also be that since a lot of these men are infected with HIV or AIDS they want others to suffer the pain they are suffering. It’s beautiful what the Women for Women program is doing for the women of Congo. They shouldn’t have to live afraid wondering when they are going to be attacked or killed. They shouldn’t feel helpless, vulnerable or guilty. They deserve to live peacefully and happy. -Anais Franco
Sorry if this my second post. I'm still learning the site.
I think it’s sick what these men are doing to the women in Congo. It doesn’t surprise me though. I think maybe these men hurt, rape and kill these innocent women not only to show that they are manly men, but also because they are full of hatred. I do not think rape should be used an as excuse for “manliness” nor should the war be used as an excuse. Abusing, fighting, killing and looking down on another person do not make one manly. It makes them ugly and a coward. Especially in this case, it’s not a fair fight for the women. These women are tied up so they can’t fight back and their husbands are also tied up so they can’t interfere. These men probably grew up an ugly life. It probably started with one sick man thinking raping a woman or two would show his neighbors that he’s tough. That woman’s child might have seen the man taking advantage of his mother and grows up full of anger and hatred. Even though in his mind he wouldn’t want anyone to ever go through what his mother did, he ended up doing what was done to her. Just like in an abusive marriage. A lot of the times the children grow up and become the abusive partner in a relationship. It might also be that since a lot of these men are infected with HIV or AIDS they want others to suffer the pain they are suffering. It’s beautiful what the Women for Women program is doing for the women of Congo. They shouldn’t have to live afraid wondering when they are going to be attacked or killed. They shouldn’t feel helpless, vulnerable or guilty. They deserve to live peacefully and happy.
The violence in the Congo area has been a topic of discussion, protest and ignorance for many years. The violence carried out by various rebel forces groups is a direct result, in my opinion, to the unregulated monopolistic, legislatively corrupt society. In the area of Congo, the land is enriched with precious natural resources such as timber, gold, cobalt, zinc, copper and most importantly and heavily valued, diamonds. The illegal diamond industry also known as “Blood Diamonds” is a hundreds of millions if not a billion dollar a year industry.
The problem begins with an unstable governing body who are mostly corrupt and accept monies from rebel leaders who gain and posses control over the areas of natural resources. The rebel forces will overtake any and all areas of living killing and abusing many and most to instill fear of betrayal or noncompliance. The control of the areas resources now supplies the rebel forces with a large incoming cash flow from the sales of these resources. The lack of governmental protection in the way of police or military ceases to exist. It is a vicious cycle which will not end without the entire area being taken over by allied forces and a new governing body, principals and military are established.
As mentioned before, this violence we speak of has occurred for many years. As with anything which continues to occur or exist in our world, adaptation is necessary in order to remain. This can be best described with technology, as our society advances, so does our technology; can you imagine watching television in NON-HD? In this case, the act of rape against woman has become the rebel forces “upgraded” scare tactics. The fear of the community to which the rebel forces maintain control is an essential and vital factor in order to succeed in the collecting of the resources. Without this control, who would they use to complete the process from a resource embedded in a cave to a resource in hand ready for sale. As time progressed, the rebels have always used the tactic of death to gain and maintain control. If you disobey, quite simply, the will shoot and kill you and or your family. At a certain point in time one would consider that resistance of the men and young men being recruited and forced to work, felt it better to give their life than conform. As a rebel, the loss of men which are in such dire need cannot take place.
A woman in most societies is held to be sacred, respected, care giving, a nurturer, and most importantly, are the link to our human existence; last time I checked men weren’t carrying around babies, there just fat! The identity of a woman in Congo is most certainly the same as most the rest of the world, quite simply, they have chosen to exploit it as means to gain control and conformity.
I could not imagine anything much worse than being forced to witness my mother, sister, grandmother, etc., endure such a thing. Needless to say I would do anything to spare them from it.
I think that the gang-rape in Congo is one of the most atrocious acts I’ve ever heard of in my life. Women throughout history have always been discriminated and seen as inferiors, but that doesn’t give men the right to rape, torture, mutilate and kill women, it is just inhuman. Those men can be compared to bullies, by raping and killing women they feel more powerful, strong, with a need to control and/or dominate. Their behavior may be a lack of education and a lot of hate, but all that doesn’t justify their actions toward women. Women for Women International is a wonderful program for women that have been victims of rape, but they don’t only need support, women need protection. It is ten times better to prevent rape by protecting these women than give them support after all of those horrible things have already been etched into their memories.
Like many African countries, Congo suffers from a lengthy civil war which is at the root of the country's most dangerous problems. Faced with volatile governments and hostile streets, Congo's future is being rewritten as massive brain drain causes more and more educated people to leave the war torn nation. For those unlucky enough to stay in the country, living conditions have plummeted as increasing raids by barbaric militias target civilians, with particular cruelties being committed towards women. Said militias can be accurately described as barbaric even before discussing their heinous acts: the militias attract young, impoverished men who are vastly uneducated with the hopes of satisfying their basic needs of unity among others like themselves while using them as tools to further a political extremist's agenda/ambitions for power.
Lacking a coherent society, Congolese women suffer as men resort to animalistic means of proving their supposed superiority. Because these men do not understand the capabilities of their minds, they ultimately resort to tactics of proving one's strength by acts of violence towards a weaker individual (echoing Darwin's survival of the fittest). One such method of subjugation towards women would be the gang rapes Congolese militias are committing, in which the men view the women as spoils of war, “safe and soft.” Such savagery can only triumph in a vacuum bereft of knowledge and reason, whereas stereotypical displays of manliness are exploitative towards women in a society plagued by cultural and moral dystrophy.
There is no doubt that people around the world are living a life of suffering, injustice, cruelty, exploitation, and pain. However, what it is really shocking is not the fact of this horrible reality, instead is the fact that most of the people may know what is happening and they don't do anything to stop it. Moreover, people are doing this horrible acts to other people to make an example, to produce fear. What is happening to our society, where are our values, why are we doing this to ourselves. We are so selfish to only care about us and do not care about may happen to our neighbor.
44 comments:
The crimes that are being committed in Congo right now are very sad and fueled by hate, yet many men of the militia root for their fellow man as the gang rape occurs which to me is an extremely putrid and vile act. What’s even sadder is that these women will be looked down upon in their society when they were the victims. Not only in Congo but around the world women are always subjected to rape, and there is no justification for taking a woman’s dignity and pride in that manner or any, especially young girls like the one in the video who gave birth. However I am glad some of these victims are being helped by the Women for Women organization. Hopefully one day the situation in Congo gets resolved and they can live in peace without the threat of rape.
-Oscar Garay
Ok, Oscar, but what kind of hate? And what fules it other than the war? Let's try to explore man's avenues of violence, man's preconceptions of what is a "woman," etc, etc.
Speaking specifically of the content in the video, the male perception of women in war-stricken (and sometimes safe) zones in Africa seems to go beyond conventional sexism. I feel many factors go into fueling these acts of hatred, from the strife arisen of economic issues to even political ones. The biggest impact, though, I believe is from deep rooted traditions of the female's place in that society itself, which, while probably varying from region to region, has remained virtually unchanged for hundreds of years. This to me forms the platform for what follows.
Notions of man's inherent value over women, at whatever degree, already is enough of a shift to tip the scales. The grander value appropriated to men consequently takes value away from the woman; this is the platform from which war adds another level. In this case, legions of violent, undisciplined, and many times very young and uneducated men join the fire, and caught up in the actions of war, take those notions of the lowly value of women, or more precisely, what they have been taught and led to believe, even feel, and degrade it even further to the "nothing" referred to in the video.
I also apply this in a more general sense to the world at large in the same categories of society, religion, and otherwise; systems like the common world-wide patriarchy, popular Abrahamic religions worshiping a single male god, etc... all these influences depict and forward the view of man as the de facto power over women.
I think is amazing the work that Woman for woman International is doing with this victims. They are not only helping woman instead they are giving hope to a country that is seeking a future. Education is the most important in matters of increasing Congo as a country, with education they can stop this kind of attacks and put an end to the suffering and fear of all the women.
Andres, I think I need more than just a brief comment about the work of Woman for Woman International.
Regarding the issue of "manliness", it is something that is dealt with in every society and social group. It's definition is molded according to what is "socially accepted" and molded by ideas in society. This can come from media, popular ideas, etc. In the United States, commonly the idea of "manliness" is compared to the "tough, rough" attitude which has been shown by the male population ranging from bullying to picking fights in many social situations. I personally experienced an exmaple of this yesterday on the bus where two men, one Cuban, one African were arguing because the Cuban man was walking too slow and the African man made a remark about it. The confrontation involved threats of "strength" which in this case was being merely equated to the physical strength of the two. This is a typical example of what "manliness" is compared to in societies.
In Congo, it has taken the form of the aggressive symbol of raping women along with murdering them and abusing them physically. This is something that does not shock me nor surprise me. Congo has a long history of violence and exploitation along with the many other African countries that have a similar story. The psychological use of rape as a weapon is something that has been used before and is effective in the sense that it instills fear in women and keeps them quiet on the matter. Especially when it comes to image in society women have a disadvantage as it is in the Congo for being considered inferior in society.
The gang rape occurremces that have been taking place in Congo serve as a weapon not only of fear but also of destruction against the Congo community. These acts go against the human rights of these women as well as the rights of the members of the society. It clearly exploits the peace and stability of the whole community and causes many issues involving the silence and humiliation that comes with the actions themselves.
This is an issue that has been present for a very long time and needs dealing with. That among the many other issues that need taking care of in Africa. Those are my thoughts.
popular Abrahamic religions worshiping a single male god, etc... all these influences depict and forward the view of man as the de facto power over women.
True, Leo, but is this your own voice?
The gang rapes that are being committed in Congo are not caused by hate, but because they are unemployed men with no moral conduct. They feel as they posses more power by raping innocent defenseless women to prove male dominance. They may gain a sense of accomplishment and self-worth by degrading another woman. I am also glad that these women have each other to go through what they are going through, it must be hard trusting other men after something like this happens to them, and im also glad to hear that the Women for Women organization is there to keep the women going.
To begin with, it was just horrible to realize that right now as we go on with our daily lives there are thousands of women being gang-raped by these men that were conceived by women in the first place. There is no justification for this violence, but I suppose the events that happened in their childhood has somehow shaped their attitude towards women. Perhaps their fathers showed no respect toward their mothers to begin with therefore they have the lowest possible concept of the role of women in the world. The lack of education can also be accounted as a great factor for the violence in today.
The type of hate pouring out of these men committing gang rapes, may not necessarily be pure hatred for the female persona but, hatred of their surroundings, childhood and other factors they were exposed to. However, by no means am I justifying the crimes they commit. Perhaps some of them never wanted the live they have; most of these men are put in the militia as children against their own freedom. Violence breeds more violence, men who have been nurtured as they were see death, murder, chaos and victimization as a part of the norm. Nonetheless, ever since the male gender has walked this Earth many see women as “breeding systems”, so who’s to say that men from Congo of the militia are any different, these gang rapes occur to show off their masculinity; in every military there is always a commander and chief certain generals or sergeants and of course foot soldiers; to a certain extent maybe the rape is encouraged by the lower division soldiers to portray a level of dominance since they are at the mercy of whoever is in charge.
(This is a post responding for my previous I hope it answers anything left out from the original Professor)
The first thought that entered my mind was, “this is horrific!” Being a woman, I can connect with the women of Congo. The connection is not that I have been raped. It is the connection that I, too, have been looked upon as an object; an object that may be manipulated, harassed, or emotionally scarred by the haughty eyes of a male. To degrade a woman like the militias have done is a horrid crime yet authorities (mostly men) choose to be indifferent! My first view is that this is the result of war but there may be something else unconsciously being done by these men. If we look at this from another perspective, it may appear to be something that men have to do. It may appear to be something that is natural, a way of survival. Evolutionists say that men are doing this because they want to reproduce to conserve the family gene; that men are wired with a competitiveness to be on top. They cannot allow others, in this case women, to manipulate them but they must manipulate them by force or violence to get what they need to survive. Although, someone may argue that the militia are doing this only because they want fear to rein for their cause, these men may be doing these deeds unconsciously as a way of reproducing for their own advantage! Is this exploitative? Yes! Rape is an essential and beneficiary to complete the task of reproducing. A man simply needs a woman to do this. He does not have to get to know her before she willingly gives into intercourse. He just has to select any woman to be his baby’s carrier. Although they do this unconsciously it is considered exploitative on behalf of the rapist because he is doing this to have the upper hand.
In the past like in the present women have always been looked down on, I believe the women in Congo are being fed fear so that this way men can have the upper hand. In the past years women have been becoming more independent and are doing things that they weren’t allowed to do before. Perhaps men being in an environment where there is war increases the need for them to be more violent towards women so they can feel in place. Where there is war there is an increase in fear, violence, and frustration. Those committing these crimes probably feel that by implanting fear into women they will be superior and have a sense of control over something even if it’s the life of a woman or the reputation of a family. I am happy that there is actually an organization trying to do something to help these women speak their voices and fight for their rights.
Thanks Oscar.
I don't know how true this is, but then again, who knows how true anything is unless they've actually been there to see it? Anyway, I've heard from the history channel that there's two versions of the book in the bible called Genesis. One is the traditional: God created the Animals, then Adam to take care of them, and then finally Eve(from Adam's ribs) to take care of Adam. This version, Adam's head of the household or "in charge" sort of speak. The second version: God again created the animals but then He created both Adam and Eve at the same time, SEPERATELY. Now this time around, they(Adam and Eve) had equal authority. Now obviously the second version is not in the Bible, it's not popular, and it may not be true. But who's to say that it isn't true and that the first one is? Afterall the Bible were written by messengers of God, but they were men and they were also human beings(which are all flawed with sin). I can see the motive for them to write the first version of Genesis and that is to control women. And so in conclusion, I think that the Bible is a big factor to why some men feel as though they have some type of advantage over women. This is why they feel as though they have the right to instil fear into us by committing those odious acts. This is a way to get and keep control of us sort of speak. Please professor, prove me wrong because I hate to have such a thought about something so sacred. Yet, when I saw that program on t.v. a lot of my catholic schooling came crashing down, that's when I really began to ask myself: What can I really believe now? This was really upsetting to read about today, but apparently these things are happening. I feel so bad for these women.
After reading this, I was horrified and disgusted at the inhumanity of all.
To begin with, these men have always seen women as being dirty and unworthy, which we aren't. Unfortunately these cultures do not have the level of education and humanity that other cultures do have. I think these so-called men have a twisted minded that I will never refer them as manliness. To me, manliness is a man who has physicality, confidence, who takes responsibility for his actions, and who respects his peers, elders, and members of the opposite sex. I do agree that this is a new weapon of fear towards women. Women do not have the same strength as the men have, to defend themselves. The thing that disturbed me more is that knowing the fact that these men after raping these innocent women, they will torture them to death. Luckily some survive but of course, they're left suffering physically and mentally. However, It is great to hear that there's an organization helping women around the world, that faces some of the greatest obstacles. I just hope that this will stop soon for all women.
What is to be expected from men that were raised in violence, with no proper education, no moral standards, and that have no one to stop them? These men are savages that are taught to inflict violence and pain. From the soldiers they fight and kill, to the women they take their perverse frustrations out on. These rebels create a living hell for innocent beings in every village they come to terrorize. Since these rebels confront violence much through their lives, they have no remorse for anything they commit. The efforts made by Women For Women is a grand help for these phsically and emotionally battered women. The fact that in their society it's considered to bring dishonor to a rape victims family and community, makes it even more difficult upon the victims. Cruel and inhumane the intentions of these men. To rape a woman in the presence of their family and village, mainly for male dominance satisfaction. In my opinion, these are not men, but sick and helpless people with no dignity nor respect. Prayers to all the suffering women around the world.
Maureen, cool, but you went off in a tangent about the bible and the issue is gang-rape.
I don't understand how this can exist in the world. How can there be a society where men rape and torture women, get away with it, and the victim is the one who gets the blaim? Even more important how could any man even consider this worse than animal-like behaviour? How could any man consider this "manliness"? manliness is not the word, but rather it is cowardace; cordace that these men express there violence towards women because they can not fight back.
I pray that the Women for Women organization may continue there efforts and that The violence and war may come to an end in this society. Most importantly, however, I pray that the society will adapt there philosophy to the problem and to stand up to the perpetrators, not the victims.
Women get raped frequently each day by these desperate people who were most likely abused by a family, friends, or just a simple stranger like it happens everyday. Man are willing to rape a woman to make their life a living hell. Those women's who live to tell the story or their experienced gang rape are either at a point of commiting suicide, have a disease, need help through a organization. Africa basically have the worst abductions on women. I give as my personal opinion that men are that way because of experienced situations or just what they are leaving now. Africa actually goes through the worst economic times and have hate towards that. So many African women are pregnant at this very point and with a child of a unknown father, that probably carried HIV. I feel disgusted on how authorities don't bring this into consideration. This topic has to be the saddest thing i have read. I know this is nothing im suppost to post up in the blog but just to share it with the rest of the class, a song written by Tupac Shakur called Keep ya Head Up "And since we all came from a woman
Got our name from a woman and our game from a woman
I wonder why we take from our women
Why we rape our women, do we hate our women?
I think it's time to kill for our women
Time to heal our women, be real to our women
And if we don't we'll have a race of babies
That will hate the ladies, that make the babies
And since a man can't make one
He has no right to tell a woman when and where to create one
So will the real men get up
I know you're fed up ladies, but keep your head up"
These crimes that are being committed in not only Congo but as well as other countries in Africa are utterly inhumane. The way these rebel men are acting will result in the downfall of mankind. If this continues little by little man will regress back to their barbaric ways. These men are trying to be at the top of the food chain, they want to strike fear into the hearts of the weak and defenseless and maintain male dominance throughout the land. Their hate is not fueled by women or anger it is fueled by power and fear. The more the rebels raid and ravage the villages the less optimism village people will have causing them to give up and die off. WE must come to a conclusion to solving this problem, the U.S must intervene in this crisis, but in the meanwhile the civilians must come together and stand up strong against the rebellion.
The situation that Congo woman are having to deal with is horrible. It makes you want to ask the men why they would do this. Have they no pride or respect or value for the sex of there mothers, grandmothers and sisters. The answer is no , there is no respect. They probably think, to my mind , that the woman should hurt because the men hurt. That they should feel fear because they feel fear. They turn to wild animals ,with no dignity. How would they feel if it were them, or someone they loved. Women have become the weapon’s and the prizes in war. A fact we have always know since the Viking rages . So why us? Why woman? Because we are considered weaker , dumber , defenseless to them. Perhaps we will never know . The point of this problem is how to prevent it . Maybe if the government gets involved and builds a sanctuary for the victim’s and there children. They could be better protected. But the most surprising thing for me , is how the woman respond with love and protection to there children , the one’s that were created by such horrid torment. Anyone can say , the child is not to blame and of course its not but, we are only human and it wouldn’t be strange to hate the aftermath of the rape. Many do, all over the world woman have abortions because of rape. But these woman don’t speak of hatred but protection for the innocence that was denied to them.
Giselle Vento
Society has a stereotype that “manliness” means showing superiority to women, which in Congo goes to the extreme of raping and abusing women in horrific ways. The cause of this stereotype probably began with the competitiveness for survival presented by the theory of evolution that only the strong survive and the weak are cut off. We can see this more clearly in animals, but in this case, it is more subtle. The need to be powerful and thereby meet the standards of “survival of the fittest” may cause these men to seek violence; in order to inflict fear and therefore be “strong”. Their “manliness” or power can also be demonstrated through the amount of mates or sexual experiences he has.
Society has a stereotype that “manliness” means showing superiority to women, which in Congo goes to the extreme of raping and abusing women in horrific ways. The cause of this stereotype probably began with the competitiveness for survival presented by the theory of evolution that only the strong survive and the weak are cut off. We can see this more clearly in animals, but in this case, it is more subtle. The need to be powerful and thereby meet the standards of “survival of the fittest” may cause these men to seek violence; in order to inflict fear and therefore be “strong”. Their “manliness” or power can also be demonstrated through the amount of mates or sexual experiences he has.
This "manliness" and male superiority has been seen for millenniums in history, and not only in the human creature. These socially morbid and morally unethical actions are correlated with violence; causation I do not know, but they are definitely correlated. This is evident at a psychological and biological level of the mind. As the article explained, rape has become a victory celebration of sorts, and being competitive, humans always want to win. Therefore, a rape signifies a win.
Back to the sociological level of the situation after these women are raped people who are not victims of this crime frown upon them, as if they are below the level of contribution to society and should not exist. This includes their families, husbands and children. First, I don't believe this frowning upon is fair; these women have endured one of man's worst sins helplessly and forcefully. Thankfully, Women for Women International is addressing this situation and helping these victims restart their life. The organization is not contributing to solving the source of the problem, but rather anticipate the horrible outcomes. We need more international intervention in helping deal with these rebels and stop the root of the problem. Instead of helping women and villages back on their feet, there should be more international concern with the main problem, though I am aware of political difficulties and such.
Every time there has been government conflict or a resource race on the continent of Africa, nothing good has ever resulted. Rather the people of these nations are left to deal with violence, wars, battles and blood shed. Ivory, Diamonds, the seventeenth and eighteenth century slave trades and the attempt of European colonization have all resulted in violence and dehumanizing-like brutalities, both in war and toward women and children. What has happened to the ancient days of the great Timbuktu, Aksum, and the trans-Sahara trade of the 3rd century?
Who can explain the thoughts or reasoning of any person let alone an entire people. Although we are individuals, region and beliefs highly influence who we are. We must understand that these are not crimes for these people, this is a way of life; a life that has been taught to them. Perhaps we are so blindsided by our own way of life that we do not believe that people can be taught these thing or bred to commit such acts.
Naturally men tend to be more aggressive and women more nurturing, not to say that they do not experience both. As I said before region does play a factor, a key factor in how these tendencies develop. In our modern day ‘utopia’ we value women more so than in our own past (with the exception of those who are stern to old beliefs). You grow up learning things, doing things in the way of your people, growing as a people, believing as one. We are religiously attached to our technology and believe it as our ‘holy light’. And even though many countries may not agree with us and not share that belief, we still continue to follow it and pursue any and all means to expand that growth.
Congo is no different, raping women and defiling them has become there way. They don’t see what they do as any deferent from us, in the sense of being a people. They are the same because we as a people have grown together and function as a whole (our government, constant technological growth) as have they grown together as a people. A people who believe the same things and continue to express those beliefs the only way they know how.
Honestly, looking at both videos and reading the article i am speechless and mortified as well. I just cant believe that such things happen in Congo. I feel so bad for those woman out there having to deal with the rape and the phychological damage to their brains. This makes it even worse, the fact that those things are going on in this time, i mean in this time period where they should have a good government system, but i see that those poor people have a bad a really bad situation on their hands, and as i am writting this i am asking where is the GOVERNMENT??? where is the police?? where is the order??? How have they let this go on without doing anything abou this issue. It is vey sad because sometimes we complaint about our lives here and looking at this just makes me sick and makes me realize how wrong we are somtimes, this poor woman are battleling everyday to make it out alive and in one peace and here we are complaining because we have a bad job or because someone yelled at us or because our significant other left us, when in reality the real issues are the things, the situations this poor woman are going trhough. Honestly it is no life to be wondering whats going to happen next, wehter they will get rape , killed or what not. I would like to give thank to woman for woman, the organization that has helped most of this poor people that are in desperate need of any kind of help that can be given to them. They have done an amazing job and i am really please to see that at least someone is doing something for this woman, and something i will never for get is that "One woman can change anything, BUT, Many woman can change everything." Well said, and i do agree, the most beautiful thing God created was the woman itself, how can someone be so unhuman and try to hurt them so badly. It is sad to say but thats sometimes the true nature of men. Honestly, may God bless those woman and may he helped them ge through those horrific times that they are going through.
Alfredo Gonzalez PHI 2010 mwf 9 AM
I think this is a very interesting and informative article. A lot of us do not know what women go through in other countries. As we can see, many men have no respect for them. It is very sad the fact that gang-rape is so common in Congo. It shows how little they care about women. I think I can somewhat agree with the article when it relates this violence with manliness. There are certain men that feel powerful and superior after raping a woman. In the video, psychologist Joseph K. says that raped women in our culture lose most of their value to society. This prevents many raped women to be ashamed of sharing their stories. My friend’s cousin got raped in Colombia, and he knows how hard it was for her to open up and tell the police about it. He said that even though this happened two years ago, the girl is still traumatized and she is scared of any man’s intentions towards her. I actually think that organizations like the “Women for Women Foundation” is a great way of letting them know that they are not alone and that many people want to prevent situations like this from happening to other women.
Violence did become more intense due to the man's perspective on masculinity. They feel that they have to take a stand and not get bullied around for what is theirs. In Nigeria, those who have more authority over the lower class, they feel as though they could do anything to those lower class persons because they could do nothing about it. Since women aren't thought of having authority, the men take advantage of that. And the fact that getting raped is viewed as humiliating, the women would most likely be quiet about the situation. Sometimes men punish women when they commit a crime by not placing them in jail, but by raping them.
I have no words to describe what I felt when read what was happening. In a way a small part of me wanted to go out and hurt someone. The violence seen was something to be expected only of the worst nightmares. To think that something like this could happen and is happening in many places is devastating. Women are not objects for men to simply play with and what they please. Women should be respected, they are the ones whom bring forth life into this world. This is simply unacceptable though what discourages me the most is that very few people are stepping up to the situation. Should we not all as a species unite to stop such heinous acts or have we all forsaken the women in those horrible conditions. It is my opinion that countries should create a safe haven for these innocent victims.
Evil presents itself as unimaginable things that we dont notice. However this is not the case in Congo, where fear, evil and helpless are shown on a daily basis.Women face atrocius treatments by man who are not punished for their crimes and therefore unleashing terror in women. But what drives man to be violent?. eventhough the world sees this as a brutal act, for their society it has become part of their routine not saying that its ok but acceptable because of the lack of law enforcement on this issue. Since its been going on for so long its something that they grow up with, therefore they learn it and accept it.
After reading the article and watching all those testimonies we should analyze the 2 parts: those desperate raped women and the attitude of those men.
First of all, being raped constitutes a trauma, most of the time that last forever. Sometimes, those women who have experienced a rape acquire diseases such as HIV, Hepatitis B, etc, which will constitute another reason to never forget about what happened. I think it is a very good idea to create an “association” where they can get together and talk about their experiences, so they can unburden themselves. Sharing information could also help them to realize they are not alone in this world, and to gain in self esteem.
On the other hand, I also believe that those men participating in these horrendous crimes have a “black background” and with this I mean that they must have experienced something similar in their childhood that left a lifetime mark on them. Without excusing their unforgiving acts, I think most of them have also been victim of these atrocious crimes, and they might see them as regular behaviors. According to some interviews I have watched, most of the men don’t see these actions as brutal but normal behaviors.
Reading this article was absolutely horrifying I was appalled at the fact that these men can go unpunished after having committed such horrendous crimes. I believe that these men are animals who have lost all sense of humanity and reason. These women will carry this physical and emotional scar for the rest of their lives and they will never be the same again. I feel very angry that the government of that country has done nothing to protect these women and bring those animals to justice. I am thankful that I live in a country where these wrongs wouldn’t go unpunished and wish we can somehow send some form of help to those women whether it be free medical care, psychological help, and of course a team to bring those men to justice! I will pray for those women and believe that nothing goes unpunished no matter how long it takes, whether in this world or the next, those monsters will be condemned.
First of all, It is really sad to see the statitics and to find out they were more than 10,000 rapes in Congo in the past 10 years, and still it continues happening as of today!.Being raped and tortured by someone or even worse in front of your children would be the worse and more horrified act that it can happened to someone. I think the UN has being really "weak" providing help to the women in Congo and to "soft" against those rapists. Also, it makes me wonder, how lucky we are by living in America and "most of us" take things for granted by comparing the way we live and how they live in "Congo", but we still do not do anything about it. I bet "most of us" heard this new on tv but we changed the channel and ignored it completaly because we are already "stress out" about the economical recession. Let's be more "proactive" by helping in any way we can to those unfortunately people in Congo.
After reading this, the crimes that man are committing is inhumanity. How can man do this we are in the 21st century, don't they have dignity or respect toward women? Is like they have so much hate inside of them, as well maybe they don't know how to confront their own problems; like probably abuse throughout childhood, or fear. Therefore, they confront it with the weak ones that are women, specially younger women that can't take care of themselves. And what is sadder that they rape them in front of their family and at the end the family will dishonor them, specially their husband. And what I'm more surprised is that the women has a great love towards their child even though it comes from those kind of men’s. However, the women are been help by the Women for Women International, their still more to be done. It might take years to resolve this crimes, but it will always comes back, like it was in the past it would be in the future as well.
Constance Chang
After watching the videos and read the article, I do not explain how things like that can happen in these days because there are many international organizations that would protect the rights of the woman. It is a shame that nowadays women should to remain silent about the mistreatment that are submitted and that they feel embarrassed when it's not something they should feel ashamed about, woman should speak to be protect and to defend their rights .Although the authorities should do something about it and stop such abuse, not only against women but against the general population, I am not surprise that the government doesn’t do anything, as in many other countries and I am not only referring to Africans countries,the government often ignore these cases because of "fear" of being attacked.
On the other hand I do not think that is a sign of manliness, I think men who do this are mentally ill, no one in their right juice will attack a woman that way.
I believe is good there is organizations that care about these women who are battered but isn’t be better to do something for them before they become victims of these men?
Cecilia Ramos
After reading this article I can state that the situation in Congo is inhumane. I as a woman can imagine what a life of fear, pain and tragedy these women are going through. Any culture would find the crimes that are being committed as acts of pure hatred and evil. This is way more than a “manliness” crime of war, it goes beyond that. Men are reveling against their own communities and women are their weapons to do this by reducing them to nothing, leaving them traumatized and abused. It’s like these men forgot who they’re really in war with and they are creating another war against the community. I strongly believe that these rapes are being committed to show power, they are not only raping these women but they are raping them in front of their husbands, proving they can do anything they want to them and leaving not only the women but also their husband, their family and the whole community as powerless.
There is no good reason to why these men do this I just can’t understand how can people do this too each other and how is it that it goes unpunished for so long before someone does something about it. It is crucial that someone needs to step in and do something not only to protect this community but most important to end this humiliation in order for all the victims to fully recover and be able to rebuilt their lives.
I would not only consider this situation to be cruel, but mostly an act of manliness. I believe that this is more of a governmental problem. If someone with power (by that I mean a president) doesn’t do anything to stop this violence, then this is going to develop as part of the culture and the next generations to come are going to consider it as something that they shouldn’t be alarmed about. Its all about the interest and the intensions to start making BIG changes. Some of these women are trying to change their lives by making a few steps and helping themselves. Sadly others can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel because these marks are too deep. But this issue has gotten out of their hands and new norms and procedures should be taken in consideration.
Anasay Sieiro
I think it’s sick what these men are doing to the women in Congo. It doesn’t surprise me though. I think maybe these men hurt, rape and kill these innocent women not only to show that they are manly men, but also because they are full of hatred.
I do not think rape should be used an as excuse for “manliness” nor should the war be used as an excuse. Abusing, fighting, killing and looking down on another person do not make one manly. It makes them ugly and a coward. Especially in this case, it’s not a fair fight for the women. These women are tied up so they can’t fight back and their husbands are also tied up so they can’t interfere.
These men probably grew up an ugly life. It probably started with one sick man thinking raping a woman or two would show his neighbors that he’s tough. That woman’s child might have seen the man taking advantage of his mother and grows up full of anger and hatred. Even though in his mind he wouldn’t want anyone to ever go through what his mother did, he ended up doing what was done to her. Just like in an abusive marriage. A lot of the times the children grow up and become the abusive partner in a relationship. It might also be that since a lot of these men are infected with HIV or AIDS they want others to suffer the pain they are suffering.
It’s beautiful what the Women for Women program is doing for the women of Congo. They shouldn’t have to live afraid wondering when they are going to be attacked or killed. They shouldn’t feel helpless, vulnerable or guilty. They deserve to live peacefully and happy.
-Anais Franco
Sorry if this my second post. I'm still learning the site.
I think it’s sick what these men are doing to the women in Congo. It doesn’t surprise me though. I think maybe these men hurt, rape and kill these innocent women not only to show that they are manly men, but also because they are full of hatred.
I do not think rape should be used an as excuse for “manliness” nor should the war be used as an excuse. Abusing, fighting, killing and looking down on another person do not make one manly. It makes them ugly and a coward. Especially in this case, it’s not a fair fight for the women. These women are tied up so they can’t fight back and their husbands are also tied up so they can’t interfere.
These men probably grew up an ugly life. It probably started with one sick man thinking raping a woman or two would show his neighbors that he’s tough. That woman’s child might have seen the man taking advantage of his mother and grows up full of anger and hatred. Even though in his mind he wouldn’t want anyone to ever go through what his mother did, he ended up doing what was done to her. Just like in an abusive marriage. A lot of the times the children grow up and become the abusive partner in a relationship. It might also be that since a lot of these men are infected with HIV or AIDS they want others to suffer the pain they are suffering.
It’s beautiful what the Women for Women program is doing for the women of Congo. They shouldn’t have to live afraid wondering when they are going to be attacked or killed. They shouldn’t feel helpless, vulnerable or guilty. They deserve to live peacefully and happy.
The violence in the Congo area has been a topic of discussion, protest and ignorance for many years. The violence carried out by various rebel forces groups is a direct result, in my opinion, to the unregulated monopolistic, legislatively corrupt society. In the area of Congo, the land is enriched with precious natural resources such as timber, gold, cobalt, zinc, copper and most importantly and heavily valued, diamonds. The illegal diamond industry also known as “Blood Diamonds” is a hundreds of millions if not a billion dollar a year industry.
The problem begins with an unstable governing body who are mostly corrupt and accept monies from rebel leaders who gain and posses control over the areas of natural resources. The rebel forces will overtake any and all areas of living killing and abusing many and most to instill fear of betrayal or noncompliance. The control of the areas resources now supplies the rebel forces with a large incoming cash flow from the sales of these resources. The lack of governmental protection in the way of police or military ceases to exist. It is a vicious cycle which will not end without the entire area being taken over by allied forces and a new governing body, principals and military are established.
As mentioned before, this violence we speak of has occurred for many years. As with anything which continues to occur or exist in our world, adaptation is necessary in order to remain. This can be best described with technology, as our society advances, so does our technology; can you imagine watching television in NON-HD? In this case, the act of rape against woman has become the rebel forces “upgraded” scare tactics. The fear of the community to which the rebel forces maintain control is an essential and vital factor in order to succeed in the collecting of the resources. Without this control, who would they use to complete the process from a resource embedded in a cave to a resource in hand ready for sale. As time progressed, the rebels have always used the tactic of death to gain and maintain control. If you disobey, quite simply, the will shoot and kill you and or your family. At a certain point in time one would consider that resistance of the men and young men being recruited and forced to work, felt it better to give their life than conform. As a rebel, the loss of men which are in such dire need cannot take place.
A woman in most societies is held to be sacred, respected, care giving, a nurturer, and most importantly, are the link to our human existence; last time I checked men weren’t carrying around babies, there just fat! The identity of a woman in Congo is most certainly the same as most the rest of the world, quite simply, they have chosen to exploit it as means to gain control and conformity.
I could not imagine anything much worse than being forced to witness my mother, sister, grandmother, etc., endure such a thing. Needless to say I would do anything to spare them from it.
I think that the gang-rape in Congo is one of the most atrocious acts I’ve ever heard of in my life. Women throughout history have always been discriminated and seen as inferiors, but that doesn’t give men the right to rape, torture, mutilate and kill women, it is just inhuman. Those men can be compared to bullies, by raping and killing women they feel more powerful, strong, with a need to control and/or dominate. Their behavior may be a lack of education and a lot of hate, but all that doesn’t justify their actions toward women. Women for Women International is a wonderful program for women that have been victims of rape, but they don’t only need support, women need protection. It is ten times better to prevent rape by protecting these women than give them support after all of those horrible things have already been etched into their memories.
Like many African countries, Congo suffers from a lengthy civil war which is at the root of the country's most dangerous problems. Faced with volatile governments and hostile streets, Congo's future is being rewritten as massive brain drain causes more and more educated people to leave the war torn nation. For those unlucky enough to stay in the country, living conditions have plummeted as increasing raids by barbaric militias target civilians, with particular cruelties being committed towards women. Said militias can be accurately described as barbaric even before discussing their heinous acts: the militias attract young, impoverished men who are vastly uneducated with the hopes of satisfying their basic needs of unity among others like themselves while using them as tools to further a political extremist's agenda/ambitions for power.
Lacking a coherent society, Congolese women suffer as men resort to animalistic means of proving their supposed superiority. Because these men do not understand the capabilities of their minds, they ultimately resort to tactics of proving one's strength by acts of violence towards a weaker individual (echoing Darwin's survival of the fittest). One such method of subjugation towards women would be the gang rapes Congolese militias are committing, in which the men view the women as spoils of war, “safe and soft.” Such savagery can only triumph in a vacuum bereft of knowledge and reason, whereas stereotypical displays of manliness are exploitative towards women in a society plagued by cultural and moral dystrophy.
Miguel Angel Gutierrez
There is no doubt that people around the world are living a life of suffering, injustice, cruelty, exploitation, and pain. However, what it is really shocking is not the fact of this horrible reality, instead is the fact that most of the people may know what is happening and they don't do anything to stop it. Moreover, people are doing this horrible acts to other people to make an example, to produce fear. What is happening to our society, where are our values, why are we doing this to ourselves. We are so selfish to only care about us and do not care about may happen to our neighbor.
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