Feminist activist from around the globe gathered for a discussion
panel with six leaders of The International Campaign to Stop Rape & Gender Violence in
Conflict attempting to answer the question “Is it
possible to stop rape in conflict?”
The event, held in the TriBeCa Performing Arts
Center on Monday, featured two of the six living female Nobel Peace Laureates,
Dr. Shirin Ebadi and Jody Williams. Ebadi was award the prize in 2003 for her
fight to protect human rights in Iran. Williams won in 1997 for her International Campaign to Ban Landmines.
Rounding out the panel were Patricia Guerrero,
director of the League of Displaced Women in Colombia; Susanna Sirkin, creator
of Physicians for Human Rights’ Program against Sexual Violence in Conflict
Zones; and Dr. Denis Mukwege, founder of Panzi Hospital in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, one of the few hospitals in
the region that treats rape victims.
Before the discussion began, feminist author
Robin Morgan offered some context, reminding the mostly female audience that,
“there is a direct correlation between the violence of a state and the
treatment of it’s women”.
Guerroro discussed how rape is a part of the
power struggle in Columbia.
Ebadi explained how female political prisoners
in Iran are raped in jail to further humiliate them.
Mukwege
shared stories of mass rape in the DRC, where women, sometimes 300 or more, are
raped in village centers.
“Rape is
not just a weapon of war, but a strategy of war” he said.
Mukwege
has performed approximately 15,000 operations on women for rape related
injuries.
Rape in
patriarchal societies becomes a way to insult the males, explains Ebadi, “part
of our work is to change this culture.”
The only
male member of the panel, Mukwege encouraged other men to speak out against
rape.
Audience
member Joanna Hoffman, from Women Deliver, appreciated this appeal saying,
“By not speaking up, [men] contribute to the silencing that often happens.”
Moving forward, the
initiative intends to mobilize males.
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