Women In War Zones: Sexual Violence in the Congo

This is a great documentary film from 2009 on sexual violence in the Congo:

Women in War Zones Trailer from Greg Heller on Vimeo.

Class Action Lawsuit by Female Soldiers Against the Defense Department

It should come as no surprise to anyone that has followed the situation regarding women in the military that a class action lawsuit has been filed due to the inability of the U.S. military to effectively investigate and prosecute sexual assaults.I have written about this extensively in the past and while the lawsuit did not add much new information, it serves to highlight the ongoing callousness that is directed towards victims of sexual assault.

Here are my previous posts on the subject:

http://endviolencetoday.blogspot.com/2010/02/women-at-war-bbc-goes-in-depth.html

http://endviolencetoday.blogspot.com/2010/04/women-are-not-just-victims-different.html

http://endviolencetoday.blogspot.com/2010/01/peril-in-war-zones-sexual-abuse-by.html

V DAY and the City of Joy

V-Day in Conjunction with UNICEF local non-profits in the Congo have opened up a center in the Congo for women who have experienced sexual violence known as City of Joy. It just opened on February 4, 2011 See how they built it
here:

Building the City of Joy from V-Day Until the Violence Stops on Vimeo.

Visit the V-DAY Congo Campaign site for more information: http://drc.vday.org/

The Next Resource Wars will be in Africa

While wars are raging in Afghanistan and Iraq (Yemen & Pakistan too for those who are keeping score at home) the next big wars will not be centered in the Middle East. Africa is home to many of the rare earth minerals that fuel the technology of the 21st Century and the Congo has many of the best reserves. Amidst the turmoil of the lame duck session of Congress President Obama revealed his strategy for dealing with the Lord's Resistance Army in the Congo. It is becoming apparent that instability in the Congo is against the national interests of the United States. The strategy which is discussed heavily in Foreign Policy Magazine, is murky at best and like many advisory efforts looks as if it is headed for an escalation. More over, the Congolese Army is often not a competent or ethical partner. The only good news that has come out of the Congo as of late has been the indictment of a high level war criminal at the International Criminal Court.