On August 7th, 2007, V-Day and UNICEF launches “Stop Raping Our Greatest Resource, Power To The Women And Girls Of The Democratic Republic Of Congo,” a new campaign to help end the rape and sexual torture in the DRC. The campaign coincides with the release of the September issue of Glamour Magazine, which features a new essay by Eve Ensler on her first-hand encounters with women in eastern DRC
Since 1996, sexual violence against women and children in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is being extensively used as a weapon of war to torture, humiliate, and destroy families in villages in the war zone. In addition to the serious psychological consequences, survivors are often left with genital lesions, traumatic fistulae, unwelcome pregnancies and STDs. An estimated 25-50% of all the survivors of sexual violence are children, predominantly girls.
The “Stop Raping Our Greatest Resource, Power To The Women And Girls Of The Democratic Republic Of Congo” campaign calls for an end to impunity for sexual violence, for measures to ensure that state armed forces and police do not perpetrate sexual violence against women and girls and for the full implementation of national laws that protect and empower women.
How you can help:
* Read
Eve’s article for Glamour Magazine
*
Click Here to Donate Now!
* Beginning August 7, 2007, visit the “Stop Raping Our Greatest Resource, Power To The Women And Girls Of The Democratic Republic Of Congo” website for information and resources, http://www.vday.org/drcongo
* Write to the President of DRC, His Excellency the President of DR Congo Joseph Kabila Kabange, urging the Government to do more to stop violence against women and girls and bring perpetrators to justice. Send letters C/O UN Action against Sexual Violence in Conflict (UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict, P.O. Box 3862, New York, NY 10163).
* Educate yourself, your friends and your community. Hold reading groups and learn about women and girls in the DRC and other conflict zones around the world.
