BBC2 Newsnight report on rape in the DRC

[stargirl1701]

Did anyone else see this? Dear God. The UN representative said she had recently visited a village where 11 babies aged between 6-12 months had been raped and 59 children between 1-3 years had been raped. The issue is being raised at the G8 tomorrow.

I am just beyond words here. I can't fathom this at all. Truly shocking.

[NiceTabard]

Yes I saw it.

Situation in the DRC has been going on for years. The woman who was talking about being gang raped was terribly brave.

While it was on I kept saying to DH "BUT WHY????? why did they do it???" and of course the answer is that women and children are sub-human/irrelevant so why not.

Incidentally my stomach churned about the babies & children as well but as with all of this it should cause the same reaction when anyone is raped irrespective of age.

[stargirl1701]

I cried when the women were telling their stories. I knew that rape had been used in DRC. Utterly despicable. But, babies... Words fail me.

[TeiTetua]

I think that there's a breakdown of society in that region, and whatever social rules people lived by have just gone. Men form armed gangs and take whatever they can, and women are always the ultimate victims.

But just recently I saw this, and if it's true (I haven't heard about it anywhere else) it's pretty remarkable. The idea that men can recognize how men are making women suffer, and try to prevent it by NOT starting an army of their own.

www.asafeworldforwomen.org/partners-in-africa/partners-in-drc/cofapri/cofapri-updates/3846-drc-men-of-courage.html

[weegiemum]

I have several good friends here in Glasgow from DRC, our church has 4 families (about 1/3 of he congregation). My dd1's best friend at church is 13, was raped at age 2 just before her parents managed to leave (her Dad was in opposition to the government and the military, she was raped by a soldier :( ).

Her parents fled with her, but at he airport they were not allowed to take their 3 older sons on to he plane. As their dd desperately needed medical help, they left the boys (11,9,7) with grandparents. 5 years ago the boys got to come to the uk too, the eldest has just been accepted to medical school and the next is training as a PE teacher.

Their gorgeous dd got all the treatment she needed and lots of psychological help delivered in French as her first language. She's now in her first year at High School, doing really well, has been here for sleepovers etc, she's a fantastic girl. They now also have 2 little dc, aged 3 & 4.

My heart breaks for the many, many little girls in DRC who weren't able to access this kind of specialist help. It's also the reason that I'm very supportive of refugees - we should be proud to be in a society where we can reach out with love and compassion to families who have suffered so much.