International Women's Day

My new NZAID workmate Julia and I have had a few conversations lately about women's rights, gender discrimination and the paternalistic societies that some of our NZAID students come from (PNG, anyone?). So yes, you could say I'm a bit of a feminist, although not the cliche bra-burning, unshaven-armpit kind! It amazes me though how many Western women think the battle is won now that equality has been achieved in many areas of society. That may well be, but if we look deeper and wider there are still many places where women are mistreated or even systematically abused. On International Women's Day, I received an e-mail from UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, focusing on the particular suffering experienced by women in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) during the continuing war there. I've had an interest in this conflict for a long time now and completely fail to understand why the international media is mostly ignoring the disgraceful situation there. Since the second Congo war began in 1998, more than 1.3 million people in the DRC have been displaced, as many as 5.4 million lives have been lost and an estimated 1,000 people are still dying every day. What makes it even worse is that sexual violence is often used as a tactic of war that specifically targets women and girls. In eastern Congo in particular, the prevalence and intensity of rape and other sexual violence is described as the worst in the world. Sexual violence has reached pandemic proportions there – tens of thousands of women have been raped in the most brutal ways or kept as slaves for soldiers. When the women are released, most kill themselves or check into a hospital where they die. Those that survive the attacks suffer from grave long-term psychological and physical health problems. UNHCR is trying to provide shelter and protection for these women - if you'd like to donate to their work in eastern Congo click here.

On a slightly different note, Ben Affleck and Mick Jagger recently worked together on a video called "Gimme Me Shelter", which is also trying to focus attention on the humanitarian crisis in the DRC at a time when too much of the world is indifferent or looking the other way. Check it out here. Ok, I'm off my soapbox now...