Rape in the Congo!!!

1. Rape in the Congo!!! Women for Women International

2. The Back Story • For over ten years now, a war has been raging in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). • To date, over 5.4 million people have been killed, and many more have been tortured, beat, and raped – most of them women. • Tens of thousands of women, possibly hundreds of thousands, have been raped in the past few years in this hilly, incongruously beautiful land. Many of these rapes have been marked by a level of brutality that is shocking even by the twisted standards of a place riven by civil war and haunted by warlords and drug-crazed child soldiers.

3. Thousands Violently Raped! • Women and children, some as young as a year old, are raped daily • Often they are raped by large groups of men, taken as sex slaves for the militia and raped day for months even years.

4. The violence of the rape is physically and emotionally devastating. • Women are raped with, knives, broken bottles, pieces of wood, and even riffles – men have even been shot in their genitals

5. Rape – not just personal • Many women who are raped are told to keep quiet. Often, it is a shame for the entire family, and many rape victims have been kicked out of their villages and turned into beggars.

6. Because doing nothing is not an option! • Women for Women International mobilizes women to change their lives through a holistic approach that addresses the unique needs of women in conflict and post-conflict environments. They provide these women with: • Important rights awareness training • Health and literacy training • Job skills training • Money for food, clothes and schooling • A support system to help her go from victim to survivor to active citizen

7. Can You Watch to This and Turn Away? • http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=3706833n