Showing solidarity to women rising up, on March 8th, 2010 thousands of men and women came together on bridges across 20 countries to stand in solidarity against war. Women for Women International organized the events to empower women facing the atrocities of war in the Congo and neighboring Rwanda. Participants from other countries included: Afghanistan, Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq, Sudan, Nigeria, the United States and the United Kingdom.
“Out of the huts of history’s shame, I rise, Up from a past that’s rooted in pain, I rise, I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide, Welling and swelling I bear in the tide. Leaving behind nights of terror and fear, I rise. “ Maya Angelou
Handed a flashlight without choice by the Hutu soldiers, Lucienne’s brother was forced to watch her brutal rape. When he didn’t comply, they killed him in front of his sister. Separated from her husband because of the shame the rape brought, Lucienne later discovered she was pregnant by one of the rapists. Despite this devastating experience, Lucienne is speaking out to bring awareness around the horrors in the Congo while rebuilding her life in the process, with the help of Women for Women International. The organization provides Lucienne and women like her support, education, cooking classes, soap-making and other forms of training so they can start earning money. The founder of Women for Women International, Zainab Salbi, says “the difference in these times is that women are speaking out and standing united as they break their silence, demand an immediate end to war and the building of sustainable peace that can allow them to plant, harvest, go to work, send their children to schools, and dance, live and eat without any fear.”
Showing solidarity to women rising up, on March 8th, 2010 thousands of men and women came together on bridges across 20 countries to stand in solidarity against war. Women for Women International organized the events to empower women facing the atrocities of war in the Congo and neighboring Rwanda. Participants from other countries included: Afghanistan, Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq, Sudan, Nigeria, the United States and the United Kingdom. This awareness particularly relevant in the tumultuous environment of the Congo because sexual terrorism continues to be a weapon of war employed to physically and mentally destroy communities.
When ethnic war erupted in Rwanda in 1994, it spilled over into neighboring country, Congo. Since then, 6 million people have died with nearly 500 thousand reported being raped. Even though a peace treaty was reached in 2008, a culture of unrest and violence remains commonplace amongst parties interested in natural resources, particularly coltan, gold and tin. Women are raped regularly, often in front of family and other members of the community, spawning feelings of shame. The survivors are ostracized, many left by their husbands, and others still in need of surgery. The brutal and widespread usage of rape as a genocidal tactic differentiates Congo’s experience from others; entire family systems collapse when women are left battered and shunned from society. The rapes are not exclusive to women; children including boys, and the elderly are also targeted. In March 2010, the New York Times reported the Lord’s Resistance Army, a regional menace in Africa, killed hundreds and kidnapped many more villagers in the remote village of Tapili, Congo. The kidnapped were led off in a “vast human chain, witnesses say.”
US support was slow coming but is getting a new push with the passage of Senate bill LRA Bill in March 2010. Senator Feingold (D-WI) said the bill, “sends a message that the United States will no longer stand by and watch the Lord’s Resistance Army terrorize innocent civilians in central Africa kidnap thousands of children and force them to become child soldiers. This legislation also sends a clear signal that the United States is committed to working with regional stakeholders to change the conditions that have allowed this war to persist for so long.” The United States is providing millions in aid towards transportation, cell phones, night-vision goggles and air support to find the militia which seems to be working according to American officials, with many of the Lord’s Resistance Army have since been eliminated. But the resistance to peace continues to be widespread. As many nations work to end the war, organizations like Women to Women continue to help survivors rise, through the process of self-efficacy and ultimately, healing, in hopes of transforming pain into power.
Sarah Jawaid is Associate Editor of Altmuslimah.
