Congolese Soldiers justify raping women
By Kyra O. Davenport
Congolese soldiers believe that as a means a survival they should behave like savages and dehumanize themselves, in their minds, it is just another tool to be effective in combat. Even more appalling these soldiers believe that raping women is just a way of life, a custom of the average soldier.
The first medium I will discuss is a YouTube clip entitled “Congo soldiers explain why they rape” This short clip entails multiple reporters interviewing Congolese soldiers and each interview is more shocking than the other. For example one solider says “We know it’s not a good thing but what do you expect when a spend a long time in a bush and “when we meet a woman and she resists us we have to take it by force” Another soldier says “it’s all about control, before raping I make sure they are in good health, I can tell when they are weak and are not in good health. Comments like these make the Congolese soldiers appear to be none other than monsters.
Another short documentary that can be found on Youtube.com is entitled Congo: My life is just rape every day?” A woman expresses how she has been raped repeatedly and expects it to happen; she has tragically accepted rape as a way of life, culture. How difficult it would be for the average woman in the United States to imagine this brutality on a daily basis, for this to be natural to a woman is mortifying.
Another short documentary that can be found on Youtube.com is entitled Congo: My life is just rape every day?” A woman expresses how she has been raped repeatedly and expects it to happen; she has tragically accepted rape as a way of life, culture. How difficult it would be for the average woman in the United States to imagine this brutality on a daily basis, for this to be natural to a woman is mortifying.
There is also an episode of Law and order Special Victims Unit, which had a character, a woman from the Congo who had been raped repeatedly and she was also shot in her Vagina by one of her attackers. Women in the Congo are being exploited, tormented, and this in turn causes long term psychological damage. The questions now are who is fighting to stop the rape crimes in the Congo? What is really being done to eliminate this tragedy? What is being done to bring justice to the victims? It will not only take coverage on CNN, local news, blogs, (even mine), and the Clinton Campaign to fight rape in the Congo, it will take communities and individuals to take a stand, write the president, make it an issue in this country for change to come in the Congo. In the meantime as you search heart after reading this story, starting with a simple prayer for these women, and praying for the eradication of sexual violence in the Congo is a step in the right direction.
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