A Powerful Reminder on Women's Equality Day
By Liz Wing on 08/26/2010 @ 04:55 PM
While we celebrate Women's Equality Day, a day that marks the expansion of voting rights to all U.S. women, we are reminded of those who still struggle for the most basic of human rights. A recent surge in rapes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is a powerful reminder of the violence against women that continues to torment that region.
On Monday, the United Nations reported that at least 179 women and children had been raped in recent weeks in villages of the Nord-Kivu province of the DR Congo, where the Rwandan rebels are active.
According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, at least 1,244 women reported being raped in the first quarter of 2010, which makes "almost 14 rapes per day on average".
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has spoken out against these egregious acts, saying:
"The United States is deeply concerned by reports of the mass rape of women and children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo by the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) – an armed, illegal rebel group that has terrorized eastern Congo for over a decade – and elements of the Mai Mai, community-based militia groups in eastern Congo. This horrific attack is yet another example of how sexual violence undermines efforts to achieve and maintain stability in areas torn by conflict but striving for peace." "When I visited the DRC last year, I learned an old proverb -- 'No matter how long the night, the day is sure to come.' In the depths of this dark night of suffering and pain, my thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families. The United States will do everything we can to work with the UN and the DRC government to hold the perpetrators of these acts accountable, and to create a safe environment for women, girls, and all civilians living in the eastern Congo."
Read the full State Department statement here.
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