A short lesson

So, I think everyone who reads this blog knows that Nic and I want to work with girls who are trafficked across country borders and forced into sex work. If not, now you know that. Another abominable but connected atrocity is the rape and torture of women as a weapon of war. Especially in areas of Africa, when a woman has been raped, she is no longer accepted by her husband and is therefore cast out by her family. In the Congo, women are being gang raped and tortured as a part of the ongoing war being fought there. Essentially, the oil and mineral benefits are so high that the truth of the people is being largely ignored by, oh, the entire world.

Here is a map of Africa, you are looking for what is known as the DRC or Democratic Republic of Congo,
So, in this country there is a war going on, for almost 13 years now, which has taken the lives of 6 million people and left more than 500,000 women raped and tortured. Also, the tribe known and the Pygmies, considered the original inhabitants of that area of Africa have been hunted down and eaten. Yes, it is what you think it is. Which war, you might ask. Read here.


Please also read this article by Eve Ensler, who wrote the famous Vagina Monologues and who has been working for women's rights around the world and an end to violence against women of any kind for years now. She has written a beautiful piece called, "Congo Cancer", about her own battle with uterine cancer (amazing, right?) and her experience of working with the women in the DRC. She has helped to establish the City of Joy, which is a community in the DRC for survivors of such crimes. Here is the blog which is an information and fund raiser. Also, please see Stop Raping our Greatest Resource, which is a human rights organization to stop the rapes going on in the DRC. 


I promise to post something happy next time, but I needed to share a bit about why I want to do the work I feel called to do.