Academic

NGO In Congo Says Pornography Contributing To Atrocities

By Ann Bartow

From Womensphere:

Last month, Stop Porn Culture (SPC) was contacted by Groupe d?Action pour le Droit (GAD), a non-profit NGO in the Democratic Republic of Congo that advocates for the human rights of children, youth and women affected by sexual violence. They do counselling for survivors of sexual trauma and community education about the issue. The conditions that GAD is working in are horrendous to say the least. The United Nations characterizes the conflict in the DR Congo as ?one of the bloodiest the world has known since World War II.? According to Amnesty International,

?Tens of thousands of women and girls have suffered systematic rape and sexual assault since the devastating conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) began in 1998. Rape, sometimes by groups as large as twenty men, has become a hallmark of the conflict, with armed factions often using it as part of a calculated strategy to destabilize opposition groups, undermine fundamental community values, humiliate the victims and witnesses, and secure control through fear and intimidation. It is not unusual for mothers and daughters to be raped in front of their families and villages, or to be forced to have sex with their sons and brothers. Rapes of girls as young as six and women over 70 have been reported. Young girls are also regularly abducted and held captive for years to be used as sexual slaves by combatants and their leaders.?

You can read more about the rape epidemic in the DRC in this New York Times article from October 2007: ?Rape Epidemic Raises Trauma of Congo War?.

GAD has identified pornography as a factor in these atrocities. …

Full post as published by Feminist Law Professors on February 29, 2008 (boomark / email).