Yes, there is rape in the military, just as there is in civilian life. There is rape at home on military bases all over the United States, and also abroad. Being barred from combat jobs hasn’t kept it from happening. I spent three weeks in the hands of the “enemy” in Iraq as a prisoner, and I was not raped. Unfortunately, many of my fellow female soldiers were raped—sometimes by the very people who were supposed to “have their back.” Rape happens every day to women; giving women front-line combat jobs will not increase that threat.
Shoshana Johnson, a former POW in Iraq, argues in support of allowing women on the front lines, despite arguments like “rape.”
Rape, corruption in camps blight lives of Somali
“Three armed men in government uniform came into the camp. The strongest one shone a powerful torch in my eyes, he strangled me and then raped me in front of my crying kids,” she said.
Mohamed, a widow, said she waited for sunrise before making her way to a nearby clinic only to be told there were no doctors.
“Later the camp leaders brought me some painkillers. Now I’m OK but I do not know what diseases I caught from the rape. I have nowhere to go for a check-up,” Mohamed said. “We live in these makeshift shelters. We have no aid agency or government to protect us at night. We are at God’s mercy.”
Isak also said rape was common in her camp.
“They rape even mothers at gunpoint at night — and we are threatened to death should we disclose it,” she said. “The makeshift shelters have no lockable doors, so these men just come in at night and lie on you.”
Rape persists in Congo, even when the war is over
…The vicious war that claimed the lives of more than 5 million people in Congo’s eastern flank might be officially over but the violence continues, particularly when it comes to women. During the worst years of the conflict, armed groups used sexual violence as a weapon but now rape perpetrated by civilians accounts for a large percentage of cases. Doctors and NGOs fear it has almost settled into something approaching a norm in a society ravaged by war.
A study published last year in the American Journal of Public Health concluded that 1,152 women are raped every day in Congo, a rate equal to 48 per hour. That rate is 26 times more than the previous estimate of 16,000 rapes reported in one year by the UN.
The highest frequency of rape was found in North Kivu, Fazili’s home province and the area most affected by the conflict, where 67 women per 1,000 had been raped at least once.
“The message is important and clear: rape in (Congo) has metastasised amid a climate of impunity, and has emerged as one of the great human crises of our time,” said Michael VanRooyen, director of the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative.
There are no precise figures relating to the number of children born from these rapes, but they are thought to number in the thousands. Abortion is illegal in Congo, so the women have little choice but to carry the pregnancy to full term.
Nearly 1 in 5 Women in U.S. Survey Report [Rape] | NYTimes.com
I amended the title up there because it was actually incorrect. One in 5 women in this study reported rape. A far greater number reported sexual assault that did not meet the study’s definition of rape. Actual report is here if anyone wants to check it out. It should also be noted this was a telephone survey that only included people 18 and older. Given the high number of victims who are under the age of 18, we can’t view these stats as exhaustive. But they’re important to note anyway.
The study defined rape as “any completed or attempted unwanted vaginal (for women), oral, or anal penetration through the use of physical force (such as being pinned or held down, or by the use of violence) or threats to physically harm and includes times when the victim was drunk, high, drugged, or passed out and unable to consent.” The numbers for men were 1 in 71 reporting rape.
The study also captured:
- Sexual coercion (defined as ‘unwanted sexual penetration that occurs after a person is pressured in a nonphysical way’);
- Unwanted sexual contact (defined as unwanted sexual experiences involving touch but not sexual penetration, such as being kissed in a sexual way, or having sexual body parts fondled or grabbed); and
- Non-contact (defined as unwanted experiences that do not involve any touching or penetration, including someone exposing their sexual body parts, flashing, or masturbating in front of the victim, someone making a victim show his or her body parts, someone making a victim look at or participate in sexual photos or movies, or someone harassing the victim in a public place in a way that made the victim feel unsafe).
Once you consider what fell outside of the study’s definition of rape, nearly half of the women surveyed (44.6%) and 1 in 5 men (22.2%) reported experiencing sexual violence victimization other than rape at some point in their lives.
And who are the rapists?
More than half of female victims of rape (51.1%) reported that at least one perpetrator was a current or former intimate partner. Four out of 10 of female victims (40.8%) reported being raped by an acquaintance. Approximately 1 in 8 female victims (12.5%) reported being raped by a family member, and 2.5% by a person in a position of authority. About 1 in 7 female victims (13.8%) reported being raped by a stranger.
So, that’s less than 14% of rapes being committed by strangers. And we blame survivors for their rapes… why exactly?
This is important. Read this.
(Source: socialismartnature)
TMobile: Release serial Brooklyn rapist’s contact information
Hmmmmmm. Not sure if this is actually the way to go. “Privacy” (in quotes) is still a really important thing. Being forced to hand over customers’ info like this is one one-way ticket to slippery-slopesville.
So…a dude assaults a woman, steals her phone and may very well be connected to a string of rapes and instead of cooperating with the police so they can investigate this individual, T-Mobile is supposed to withhold the information that could put an end to such violent acts?
I’m all for privacy, but at some point we have to consider the wellbeing of others and recognize that these companies have the capacity to help catch violent criminals. Handing over the information doesn’t mean that this individual is going to be arrested on the spot, but it does allow the police to investigate this customer who may be a serial rapist.
Slippery slope, sure. But we’re talking about the assault of multiple victims and the disclosure of such information could help prevent more assaults from occurring. Privacy is important, but so is the safety and well-being of women.
What Would You Choose – Prison or Rape?
I posted a while back about the Human Rights watch investigation into abuses occurring at Canadian-owned mining sites in Papua New Guinea, and HRW has just released a bit of an update.
Barrick Gold, the Canadian company that owns the mines, has since opened an internal investigation into the abuses revealed by Human Rights Watch. The police have also begun an investigation.
You can read the entire report from HRW, as well as the response from Barrick Gold.
She had been standing on the waste dump, she said, selling bags of beetlenuts to the illegal miners panning for gold when the cars carrying Barrick’s security guards pulled up. They leapt from the cars and began sprinting toward the people working on the dump. Everyone ran. But Mary, fumbling with her wares, tripped and fell on the rocks. The guards caught her, and brought her back to one of the cars.
The guards taunted her and told her she would either go to prison or pay a massive fine for mining illegally. Then they asked her if she wanted to go to prison or if she wanted to go home.
Mary had heard what happened to women who were caught on the waste dump, and she believed the guards were asking her a question: Would she rather go to prison or let all five guards rape her in return for letting her go?
Mary said prison. Barrick’s guards didn’t listen.
Barrick, valued at $47.6 billion, is the world’s leading gold producer. Since the Papua New Guinea Porgera Joint venture mine opened in 1990, the mine has produced more than 16 million ounces of gold. At today’s prices, that would be worth more than $20 billion. Barrick took over the mine in 2006, and production is expected to continue until at least 2023.
While rumors of abuses like gang rapes and beatings had long been associated with the mine, Barrick Gold – the world’s largest gold mining company in terms of production – had denied these claims as unfounded.
But when we went and investigated these abuses, allegedly committed by the mine’s private security staff, we found information corroborating the allegations…
In short, the five guards ignored her plea and did what they wanted. They punched and kicked her while they raped her. Then they left her badly hurt, lying on the rocks, still on Barrick’s property. With the help of a stranger, she limped home – a long walk, mostly uphill.
Mary’s story stuck with me not only because her alleged rape by Barrick’s guards was so terrible, but because what happened next was even worse. People in her community either saw what happened to her or guessed. Neighbors taunted her, and her husband left her, saying he didn’t want to “be with her anymore after these five men had their chance with her.” Within a few days, she was totally ostracized and very alone.
The rape of men
Dying of shame: a Congolese rape victim, currently resident in Uganda. This man’s wife has left him, as she was unable to accept what happened. He attempted suicide at the end of last year. Photograph: Will Storr for the Observer
“Of all the secrets of war, there is one that is so well kept that it exists mostly as a rumour. It is usually denied by the perpetrator and his victim. Governments, aid agencies and human rights defenders at the UN barely acknowledge its possibility. Yet every now and then someone gathers the courage to tell of it. This is just what happened on an ordinary afternoon in the office of a kind and careful counsellor in Kampala, Uganda. For four years Eunice Owiny had been employed by Makerere University’s Refugee Law Project (RLP) to help displaced people from all over Africa work through their traumas. This particular case, though, was a puzzle. A female client was having marital difficulties. “My husband can’t have sex,” she complained. “He feels very bad about this. I’m sure there’s something he’s keeping from me.”
Owiny invited the husband in. For a while they got nowhere. Then Owiny asked the wife to leave. The man then murmured cryptically: “It happened to me.” Owiny frowned. He reached into his pocket and pulled out an old sanitary pad. “Mama Eunice,” he said. “I am in pain. I have to use this.”
Laying the pus-covered pad on the desk in front of him, he gave up his secret. During his escape from the civil war in neighbouring Congo, he had been separated from his wife and taken by rebels. His captors raped him, three times a day, every day for three years. And he wasn’t the only one. He watched as man after man was taken and raped. The wounds of one were so grievous that he died in the cell in front of him.
“That was hard for me to take,” Owiny tells me today. “There are certain things you just don’t believe can happen to a man, you get me? But I know now that sexual violence against men is a huge problem. Everybody has heard the women’s stories. But nobody has heard the men’s.” Read more…
(Source: ellobofilipino)
Men who want to flirt with women have to realize: Women live in a state of continual vigilance about sexual safety. It’s like having a mild case of hay fever that never goes away. It’s not debilitating. You’re not weak. You’re not afraid. You just suck it up and get on with your life. It’s nothing that’s going to stop you from making discoveries, or climbing mountains, or falling in love. Sometimes you can almost forget about it. It doesn’t mean it’s not there, subtly sucking your energy. You learn to avoid situations that make it worse and seek out conditions that make it better.
If a female stranger is wary around you, it is not because she suspects you are a rapist, or that all men are rapists. It’s because a general level of circumspection is what vigilance requires. Don’t take it personally.
If this frustrates you, try to remember that women are blamed for lapsed vigilance. If a woman does get raped, everyone rushes to see where she let her guard down. Was she drinking? Was she alone? Was she wearing a short skirt? Did she go to a strange man’s room for coffee at 4am?
A woman must be seen to be vigilant as well as be vigilant. If she is deemed insufficiently vigilant, she will be at least partly blamed for any sexual violence that befalls her. If she’s regarded as downright reckless, that “evidence” can be used to completely exonerate her rapist. If it comes down to a he said/she said dispute over whether sex was consensual, as so many rape cases do, the dispute becomes a referendum on whether the woman seems like the sort of reckless person who would have sex with a stranger.
If a woman does go back to a strange man’s hotel room at 4am, even if she only wants a coffee and conversation, she’s more or less given him the power to rape her. No jury is going to believe she went up there for anything but sex. So, don’t be surprised if a stranger reacts badly to that suggestion.
” Attention, Space Cadets: Do Not Proposition Women in the Elevator (via petitefeministe)That totally blew my mind. If you’re a man, not for the reason you think. You see, all men look like rapists to women. All of you, all the damn time. If you go out in public and you are a man, a woman has looked at you as a potential rapist. What blew my mind was the idea that men aren’t aware of this. Really, I thought you would be.
Here’s the thing, all women are always aware of the risk of rape. We all know how prevalent rape is. We’re all aware rape can happen to any woman at virtually any time and that no woman is entirely safe anywhere. Men may pass right over an account of a rape, but women do not. So we’ve heard stories of rapes in church bathrooms during services, in stairwells, elevators and parking garages, in changing rooms at department stores, in movie theaters, in cars, in planes, in parks, in airports, in buses, in our homes. We know that old women are raped, toddlers are raped, nuns are raped, pregnant women are raped, everyone is raped.
So, everywhere we go, we can’t help but think This is a place where rape happens. I am not unusually afraid of rape, by the way. This is a normal level of fear for a woman who has not been raped.
” Forever in Hell (via)Egypt 'Virginity Tests' Acknowledged By Army: Amnesty International
Amnesty International said Monday that Egypt’s military rulers have acknowledged carrying out so-called “virginity tests” on female protesters – the first time the army has admitted to the much-criticized practice.
Maj. Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, a member of the military council ruling Egypt since the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak, justified the tests as a way to protect the army from rape allegations, Amnesty said.
But the rights watchdog said al-Sisi vowed the military would not conduct such tests in the future.
The “virginity test” allegations first surfaced after a March 9 rally in Cairo’s Tahrir Square that turned violent when men in plainclothes attacked protesters and the army intervened forcefully to clear the square.
Amnesty has found 18 female detainees were forced to undergo the tests.
“Subjecting women to such degrading procedures hoping to show that they were not raped in detention makes no sense, and was nothing less than torture,” the Amnesty International secretary general, Salil Shetty, who met with the military council, said in a statement issued by the group.
“The government should now provide reparation to the victims, including medical and psychological support, and apologize to them for their treatment,” he said.
The youth movement that led the anti-Mubarak uprising is sharply critical of the generals now in charge, upset at the pace of efforts to lead Egypt to democracy. Since Mubarak’s fall on Feb. 11, the military has cracked down on peaceful protests, and critics say it has failed to restore security in the streets and to initiate a serious national political dialogue.
Petition against the bill to audit rape survivors
This needs to stop. Women don’t take the decision to get an abortion lightly, and Congress (83.2% male) is treating us like children.
You all need to sign this. Pro-choice or not, auditing rape survivors is simply disgusting, and we should all be able to agree on that.
”
The bill would impose tax penalties on small businesses and individuals who buy abortion coverage with their own money—with exceptions only for cases of rape, incest, or when a woman’s life is in danger.
The result? Survivors of rape and incest who seek abortion care could be forced to detail their assaults and provide proof to IRS investigators.”
…..
“Blue Blanket” by Andrea Gibson (trigger warning for rape/sexual abuse)
she was whole before that night
believed in heaven before that night
and she’s not the only one
she knows she won’t be the only one
she’s not asking what you’re gonna tell your daughter
she’s asking what you’re gonna teach
your son
Rape Culture 101
Rape Culture 101:
After I was date-raped, I had to explain to the authorities:
-what outfit I wore
-what I drank
-what I ate
-what I said
-if I crossed my legs
-how I laughed
-if I laughed
-the makeup I wore
-what underwear I wore
-who I talked to
-what bar I went to
-who my friends are
-what type of car I drive
-what type of shoes I wore
-if I wore tights
-how many sexual partners I have had
-my sexual orientation
-the age I lost my virginity
-if I was wearing perfume
-the color of my hair
-if I said “no”
-when I said “no”
-how I said “no”
-how many times I said “no”
-why it was in my bed
-why I had no bruises
-why his number was programmed in my phone
-why we were friends on facebook
-why I said yes to a date
-why I let him pay
-why I went to class the next day
-if I showered
-why I didn’t stop him
After he raped me, he had to explain:
…
nothing. because they never asked him.
“Rape culture” is living a society where rape is defined by the circumstances rather than the action.
Congo colonel gets 20 years after rape trial
BARAKA, Congo – One by one, the rape survivors relived their attacks for a panel of judges: A newly married bride flung her torn, bloodied clothing onto the courtroom floor. A mother of six dropped to her knees, raised her arms to heaven and cried out for peace.
Nearly 50 women poured out their stories in a wave of anguish that ended Monday with the conviction of an army colonel for crimes against humanity — a landmark verdict in this Central African country where thousands are believed to be raped each year by soldiers and militia groups who often go unpunished.
It was the first time a commanding officer had been tried in such an attack.
Prosecutors had sought the death penalty for Lt. Col. Mutuare Daniel Kibibi, who was accused of ordering his troops on New Year’s Day to attack the village of Fizi, a sprawling community 20 miles (35 kilometers) south of Baraka on an escarpment of mountains covered in banana trees.
Military prosecutor Col. Laurent Mutata Luaba said the men “behaved like wild beasts,” terrorizing defenseless civilians they had orders to protect.
Doctors later treated 62 women for rape. One woman testified that Kibibi himself raped her for 40 minutes.
Kibibi and the 10 of his men who stood trial with him were the only ones identified after the rampage.
As the defendants were being led away in handcuffs, hundreds of people jeered at them, booed and shook their fists. Some shouted, “Kibibi! You thought you could get away with this! Now you are going to jail!” and “You must pay for your crimes!”
Kibibi, 46, who is married with eight children, was convicted of four counts of crimes against humanity but will serve no more than 20 years in prison.
Kibibi denies all the charges and says the testimony by his bodyguards was part of a plot to denigrate him. Defense attorney Alfred Maisha described his client as a “valiant hero” who had served in the army since 1984 and had risked his life many times in the defense of the country.
Maisha said many of the troops under Kibibi’s command were poorly trained and included former members of rebel and militia groups.
Witnesses said the soldiers descended in a fury upon the village, where residents had stoned a soldier to death who had been involved in an altercation with a local shop owner.
The soldiers smashed down doors and went house-to-house, pillaging, beating and raping for an entire night, from 7 p.m. until 6 a.m. the next day, witnesses said.
Three of Kibibi’s officers received the same sentences, and five others got lesser sentences. One man was acquitted and another will be tried in juvenile court.
But even as the men were sent away, women feared that some attackers had escaped justice.
“Most of the rapists are still right here in our village,” one woman said as she nursed her baby. “If we go to the river for water, we get raped. If we go to the fields for food, we get raped. If we go to the market to sell our goods, we get raped.
“Our lives are filled with danger,” she said. “There is no peace.”
