Actresses Stand in Solidarity with Mothers in Congo
There’s less than a week left to submit your video to the Come Clean 4 Congo video contest with YouTube. Over the past month we’ve received some creative, smart, and – every now and then – rather bizarre videos that show the links between our cell phones and the staggering prevalence of violent rape in eastern Congo. If you’re familiar with blood diamonds, then you’re on the right track to understanding how conflict minerals work: The very same rebel groups who operate many of the tin, tantalum, tungsten, and gold mines – minerals that are essential components in our electronics devices – throughout eastern Congo are perpetrators of the brutal sexual violence that has made Congo the most dangerous place in the world to be a woman or girl. But as consumers, we have the power to stop this deadly cycle. In this powerful new video, actresses Julianne Moore, Julianna Margulies, and Brooke Smith tell you how.
Technorati Tags: Advocacy Eastern Congo Peace Prevention Protection Sexual Violence Violence Against Women War Crimes
This video doesn't even
This video doesn't even begin to show the horrors of these rapes. I saw a documentary: "The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo". Watching made me wish they'd merely just rape them, as if that were a much lesser of an evil. But the fact is that it is. The details of these rapes go far beyond just that, because it's done so barbarically! Many of them, the ones that survive, are brutalized beyond ever being able to walk again, or permanent incontinence with pain. They're also ostracized by the community, since the others don't understand, and rapes don't stop with women. Children as young as 3 yrs old have been raped, it's a common thing too. Some are captured, taken on the road, and repeatedly gang-raped. If they're pregnant, brace yourself for this, it's common to be jumped on until they abort, which is collected in a bowl the woman is then force fed. The soldiers are very superstitious, believing not only is it their right to have the woman, but that if they don't, they'll lose the war. If things aren't going good in battle, raping is encouraged. If they break into a home and the husband protests, he's killed. Seriously, this is true! Really pay attention to where the insides of your cell phones come from and act accordingly!