Combat The Terror Of Rape In Congo

Photo from The Seminal

From Christian Science Monitor:

Medford, Mass.; and San Diego, Calif. - Long overshadowed by conflicts in the Middle East, Darfur, Iraq, and Afghanistan, extensive, predatory terrorism – largely of a sexual nature – continues to attack the heart of Africa. The idea that the international community has a "responsibility to protect" innocent civilians must be given meaning, and nowhere is this more important than in eastern Congo. Military groups there are using rape as a devastating weapon of war.

Make no mistake: these are not isolated incidents involving rogue soldiers. This is an organized campaign of sexual terrorism – and the global community must respond forcefully.

Sexual violence haunts its victims long after the initial attack. Each act of rape humiliates its victims; emasculates men who are unable to protect them; and traumatizes victims, their families, and, in times of war, entire communities. The chronic physical conditions that rape can cause may be considered family humiliations and result in the banishment of victims from their own homes.

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My Comment: The only way this war crime can be stemmed/stopped in the Congo, is through a massive intervention of foreign armies into the region.

But this is not going to happen.

The costs and resources required cannot be sustained by any one country. The war in the Congo is going to continue for a very long time. The best that we can do is target the leaders of the militias that roam in this region, capture them, and then charge them for war crimes.