Women's Views on News |
| Rape and genocide in the DR Congo Posted: 16 Aug 2013 07:20 AM PDT
by B K Kumbi, Congolese historian and activist. I would like first to thank Sarah Cheverton for this article that really tries to make sense of the horrific war in the Congo. The problem of the general discourse on rape in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is that it often leaves aside the question of the war that is a fundamental aspect here. While we must question this act in terms of gender because this issue has its importance in what is happening in this country, we cannot only address this issue from this perspective. It is a wrong road and it only strengthens our own categories of analysis. Why do I say that? Speaking with Congolese activists who are on site in the Kivu and who are working in the area of sexual violence, they say that on the ground we are seeing more and more rapes against men. What is particularly shocking in this category of rape is that the perpetrators are not only men but also women. This is of course not the bulk of the phenomenon, but it forces us to reassess our analytical framework in relation to this problem. I know that the temptation to define the issue in terms of the opposition between women and men is very appealing but war is not a simple phenomenon. The Congolese people deserve our compassion but above all our intellectual honesty when we analyze the tragedy we are going through. We must be particularly attentive to the context in which these rapes are committed. Rape in the DRC is war and it is a war that is as much done against women, children and men. Rape in this case is an aggravating factor of the crime of genocide. What is sought through this act is not only to displace the Congolese population in order to replace it mainly by the Rwandan speaking Tutsi population but it aims at trying to stop the reproductive capacity of the Congolese women. It is basically a form of extremely brutal and barbaric sterilization. These acts are not random acts. They are underpinned by the desire of neighboring countries – supported by Western multinationals and governments – to grab the Congolese Kivu lands that are rich in raw materials, such as coltan used to manufacture cell phones or missiles. Those who will benefit from this are neighboring Rwanda and by proxy Uganda, if they succeed in making the Kivu a buffer state under the aegis of the UN. This is the backdrop in which the violence occurs and that we must denounce absolutely. If we only highlight the rape of women, it becomes very easy just to call for an end of rape leaving the call to stop the war aside. As a Congolese woman, I strongly feel that no room is left for the victims. Their word is relayed by Westerners (feminists, politicians, or actors) when they know better who rapes them, who rapes their children, or their husbands. No one really wants to listen to victims because it contradicts the narrative that is set up here in the West, which completely ignores the question of the genocide of the Congolese people. The silence that surrounds the issues at stake in the Congo is reflected in the Human Rights Watch report in 2005, which was totally ignored, or perhaps, more correctly, silenced. This report, which was the basis of the prosecution launched by the International Criminal Court against Uganda, showed that Uganda had committed war crimes, genocide and looting in Congo. Nobody has ever faced justice for those crimes. It is easier today to prosecute an individual or an army battalion than to go after a state, particularly when those particular states have been either supported and protected by the West or have done nothing to protect their citizens (as is the case with the Congo presidency). The problems that Congolese people face are manifold, but there is a single truth here: people should start listening to Congolese people – not those who pretend to rule the country but instead enrich themselves, but the ones who are exterminated daily. I am speaking from personal experience. Among the 6 million or more people who have died in the Congo were some who are very dear to me. A petition has just been launched by an alliance of Congolese and UK campaigners calling on the UN Secretary General to acknowledge the genocide against the people of the DR Congo. Please sign it.  |
| Lose the lads’ mags: day of action Posted: 16 Aug 2013 04:19 AM PDT
Have you seen the papers over the past week? Lose the Lads' Mags has been all over the news, including the front pages of Metro and the Guardian. First the Co-operative told lads’ mags publishers to wrap the magazines in ‘modesty bags’ or not be sold any more. Then Tesco announced they will only sell lads’ mags like Nuts and Zoo to over-18s. Then Nuts and Zoo said they are refusing the Co-operative’s demand to wrap their magazines – so they will no longer be stocked in the Co-operative’s 4000 stores! This is an absolutely huge achievement! Because of the work we've done together lads' mags have become a national news story and huge companies like Tesco and the Co-operative are reacting to our pressure. It’s because of every single person who has signed the petition, emailed, Tweeted and Facebook messaged retailers. Amazing work everyone! But there's still more to do. What Tesco are proposing so far is only a half-measure – designed to allow them to carry on profiting from sexist, harmful lads’ mags. Yet by stocking them, shops are sending out the message it’s normal and acceptable to treat women like dehumanised sex objects. This has got to end. Now we need to use the momentum we've built so far and show them that the only measure we'll accept is losing the lads' mags for good. We’ve seen what’s possible when we act together – so let's take the message right to the doorstep of the UK’s biggest retailer. On Saturday 24 August join us for a national day of action as supporters hold family-friendly protests outside local Tesco stores. We’ll be talking to customers, collecting petition signatures and sending out the message to Tesco that half-measures won’t cut it. They need to lose the lads’ mags! So far actions have been planned for Glasgow, Cambridge, Portsmouth, Norwich, Halifax, in Kent and in London. We’ve prepared a short film – starring actress Romola Garai – showing how to organise a Lose the Lads’ Mags action on 24 August. We’ve shown what’s possible when we come together and raise our voice. Now let’s turn up the volume. Join the day of action on 24 August.  |
| Posted: 16 Aug 2013 01:09 AM PDT
An advertisement for period products has gone viral, with five and a half million (and counting) YouTube hits, coverage in the Irish Times, the Guardian, and the Telegraph as well as numerous blogs. Camp Gyno, a video created for the launch of Hello Flo's tampon delivery service, features a young girl who gets her first period at holiday camp. She becomes the self-appointed 'self-gyno', source of all knowledge and dispenser of towels, tampons and mirrors. She loses her power when Hello Flo begins to deliver monthly packages of towels, tampons and sweets to her friends – or, as she refers to it, becomes 'Santa for your vagina'. So why has this advertisement become so talked-about? It is one of the very few to cover periods in a realistic and celebratory way. There are no sanitised euphemisms; it is an advertisement about periods uses the word 'period', as well as other commonly avoided words including, 'blood', 'red' and 'vagina'. Instead of the usually ubiquitous blue liquid, the preteen girl does a 'menstruation demonstration' featuring ketchup spurting out of Dora the Explorer. Towels and tampons, instead of being accessories that must be hidden, are flung about joyfully. In short, as Jennifer O'Conell in the Irish Times puts it, this advertisement 'portrays a girl's first period as an event that confers authority and knowledge, not the shame-and-secrecy model espoused by most advertisers.' Indeed, Camp Gyno marks a departure from the norm. Other than a hilarious spoof from Bodyform and Kotex's deconstruction of periods, your average advert for towels and tampons either features women 'defeating' their periods by parachuting in white trousers, or desperately trying to keep their period a secret. This habit of couching periods in euphemistic terms and concentrating on 'hiding' periods, contributes to period-shaming. While women in the UK aren't made to live separately or hide away during their period, there is still a lot of discomfort surrounding the idea of women on their periods. How many of us have been accused of having PMS and told 'It must be that time of the month dear' or been asked 'got the painters in love?' You know that you live in a society that isn't comfortable with women's bodies when being told you are on your period is an insult. Of course, advertisements for towels and tampons might be seen as a trivial point and cannot undo the centuries of fear and fascination around women's menstruation. Yet they still grate and can still contribute to a culture where menstruation is misunderstood and mystified. These advertisements also matter because they don't stop at period shaming. Kotex recently released 'sport liners' designed for crotch sweat, because women don't have enough to be self-conscious about already. The advertisement features women exercising and then fleeing the scene terrified when they realise that they have crotch sweat marks. But it never actually reveals why it's quite so awful that women's bodies respond to exercise by sweating. While the Camp Gyno advert is a very refreshing change, the product it advertises is not without its problems. On its site, one of the selling points Hello Flo promotes is the 'discreet packaging' so that no-one needs to know you are receiving towels and tampons. The inclusion of treats in the package can play to the stereotype of women needing chocolate to survive their periods. Nevertheless, it represents a welcome move when it comes to depicting periods in adverts. Let's continue to have a bit less shaming and a bit more humour.  |
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