Weekly Drop #7: The most dangerous place for a woman: The Democratic Republic of Congo and war-torn nations

A number of my past dealings with certain women have led me to negative deductions.  In the process of completing the “mission” I tend to lose respect for them for no apparent reason.  It goes to show the type I encounter and pursue, or maybe not.  In the midst of my misadventures there is one woman in my life who I gain new respect for each day; my mother.  As I get older (I’m reaching Kobe Bryant status in 2 months, which means I’m turning 24) I learn to appreciate more and more the person that she is.  The distance between us (8000km, my mother work and resides in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo) is compensated by the unconditional love.   Although today is father’s day (nothing but love for my father), I personally celebrate mother’s day every day.  She continuously helps me in my becoming of a man.  I am not quite there yet but the path is that much thrilling because her guidance and sound advice are equal to a saint’s.  I can’t take anything away from my father, but my mother has taught me the greatest lesson in life – Courage and Patience. “l’homme doit se battre” (a man must fight, in English).

Every time I speak to her I get a reminder of how important a mother/woman is crucial in the life of man.  Because of unfortunate circumstances many don’t have that privilege of having an influential and strong woman as a guide in their lives.  The reason I’m being emotional in this post is because I came across a survey which lists the top 5 countries for women in term of everyday living.  To be honest it did not surprise me as the 5 countries are war-torn and they will remain that way for a while (I’m a realist, not an optimist).  The sad part is my country of origin; Democratic Republic of Congo is ranked second on the list.  Here’s an excerpt of the article in question, courtesy of Aljazeera English:

“Afghanistan has been ranked as the world's most dangerous country for women, with Congo taking a close second position, a Thomson Reuters Foundation expert poll has said. Violence, dismal healthcare and brutal poverty afflicts women in Afghanistan, while in Congo there are horrific levels of rape, the survey conducted by TrustLaw, an arm of Thomson Reuters, said on Wednesday. Pakistan, India and Somalia ranked third, fourth and fifth respectively in the global survey of perceptions of threats ranging from domestic abuse and economic discrimination to female foeticide, genital mutilation and acid attacks. "Ongoing conflict, NATO airstrikes and cultural practices combined make Afghanistan a very dangerous place for women," Antonella Notari, head of women change makers, a group that supports women social entrepreneurs around the world, said.” The poll was put together based on “overall perceptions of danger” as well as six specific risks in those countries.  The experts who assembled the poll determined the 6 risks as follow: 1) health threats, 2) sexual violence, 3) non-sexual violence, 4) cultural or religious factors, 5) lack of access to resources, and 6) trafficking.  I can’t imagine how harsh life must be for these women who must fight daily to survive.  What pains and touches the most is the treatment of the women in the Congo: “Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), still reeling from a 1998-2003 war and accompanying humanitarian disaster that killed 5.4m people, came second mainly due to staggering levels of sexual violence in the lawless east. More than 400,000 women are raped in the country each year, according to a recent study by US researchers. The United Nations has called Congo the rape capital of the world.  "Statistics from DRC are very revealing on this: ongoing war, use of rape as a weapon, recruitment of females as soldiers who are also used as sex slaves," Clementina Cantoni, a Pakistan-based aid worker with ECHO, the European Commission's humanitarian aid department, said. "The fact that the government is corrupt and that female rights are very low on the agenda means that there is little or no recourse to justice." Rights activists say militia groups and soldiers target all ages, including girls as young as three and elderly women. They are gang-raped, raped with bayonets and have guns shot into their vaginas.” For the reason that the misfortune of some women is so great, I find it impossible not to respect and cherish them.  I was privileged enough to travel to the motherland last summer (first time in 13 years) and I couldn’t help but see the pain and suffering in the eyes of many of them.  Despite the shocking statistics on the rape crisis in the Congo, I remain somewhat in peace knowing that my mother is far removed from the conflict zone (the war zone is the lawless East, in Kivu).  I get emotional every time we speak because I recognize that unlike her, many women are involuntarily trapped and face atrocities. In the course of my second year of my undergrad in University, I took a course called “women, justice, and victimization” (mainly to meet women, and to learn what feminism was all about).  When I look back on the issues we discussed in class, such as equal par between men and women, prostitution etc… I can’t help but laugh at how lesser those problems are in comparison to women in the 5 worst countries.