Ten Things You Can Do to Stop Femicide in the Congo

Eve Ensler, founder of "V-Day," an organization dedicated to ending violence against women around the world, has recently spent several months in Democratic Republic of the Congo to learn about the rape epidemic firsthand and to offer support to the victims. Recently, she suggested a list of ten things regular people can do. Here is a paraphrased version:

1. Educate yourself about Congo’s history of Belgian colonialism, its connection to the Rwandan genocide, the horrific femicide that is occurring there, which has left hundreds of thousands of women raped and sexually tortured, and the economic war that is fueling the violence. Spread the word and educate others by holding a teach-in for your community.

2. Help support a burgeoning grassroots women’s movement in the DRC and around the world. Organizations include Heal Africa, Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, International Rescue Committee, Raise Hope for Congo and Human Rights Watch. Support Stop Raping Our Greatest Resource, Power to Women and Girls of DRC, a global campaign.

3. Demand a tenfold increase in UN peacekeepers by writing to your elected officials. Emphasize that this larger peacekeeping force should include women peacekeepers specifically trained to deal with sexual violence (some members of previous peacekeeping forces actually participated in the sexual exploitation of Congolese women).

4. Demand that women be involved in any future peace talks.

5. Demand the arrest and prosecution of war criminals involved in sexual violence, child soldiering and other atrocities at the International Criminal Court. Even though hundreds of thousands of women have been horrifically raped in the last decade, only 12 cases have ever been prosecuted.

6. Demand that President Obama’s administration put pressure on the Rwandan and Congolese leadership to come together at the negotiating table and stop supporting Laurent Nkunda and the FDLR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda), respectively.

7. Pressure the DRC government to make ending sexual violence a priority by writing to President Joseph Kabila. Tell him to train and support many more women police officers who can protect vulnerable women.

8. Help provide resources to raped and violated women. Donate to the City of Joy, a joint project of Panzi Hospital, V-Day and UNICEF, where women can turn their pain into power; or buy a handmade Congolese bag to support the economic empowerment of women survivors.

9. Write to your local editorial boards and ask them to cover the Congo war. Blog about the Congo war. Write to the larger news outlets you read and tell them you are interested in news from the Congo.

10. Attend the Turning Pain to Power Tour, a nationwide tour coming to a city near you.

Observers remark that it is safer to be a soldier than a woman in the DRC. Every single militant group in the war has used rape as a strategic tool to destroy civilian communities, and they each have their own "special" way of mutilating their victims. They will not be stopped without outside intervention, and there will be no outside intervention without a public demand for it. Thanks for reading, and for any effort you make to make Sophie's world a more civilized place!