Apparently, the US is a criminal sex offender. So be on the look-out should this country move into your neighborhood.
I suppose this shouldn't come as a surprise... I've found myself rather in agreement with critiques of recent years observing that we've come to accept prison rape as an informal additional punishment, a nonchalance which can't help but be reflected in the actual approach of the prison-industrial complex to investigating and stopping it. There's a good point to be made that we shouldn't accept rape as an informal punishment any more than we would accept it as a formal one -- I can't imagine (or I can, but'd rather not) it would pass Constitutional muster as a NON-"cruel and unusual" punishment, but our being so blase about invites it to stay part of our system.
Speaking, unfortunately, of rape, there is the continuing and seemingly worsening wave of sexual violence in the Congo, where apparently we're (the US and UN) helping to mentor other countries' armed forces in sexual violence:
AMY GOODMAN: Now, what about this issue of the US-, the UN-backed Congolese army in the area now increasing the rate of rapes? And we’re actually not just talking about women and girls, but also of men and boys, as well. Is that right, Christine?
CHRISTINE SCHULER DESCHRYVER: That’s totally right. I have to say, since they started like with the new operation called “Kimia II” with the Congolese army and supported by the UN forces, the situation here on the ground is terrible, terrible, because now we have the militias just—not just going and rape the women, they are burning villages, they are killing the people, they’re raping men. They are like—they already use the same methods like Janjaweeds in Darfur. So now the level of violence in both North and South Kivu is just incredible. There’s no more words to describe what’s going on. And we still, like—we all, like—like the international NGOs, the local, the national NGOs, all of them made reports to alert the world that there’s a tragedy going on with this operation. But they’re still continuing, and we don’t understand that.
I... have nothing else to say, really. This has sort of sapped the pithiness right outta me.
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1 comment:
While I commend your posting on such a worthy topic (what's happening with rape as a weapon of war in the Congo), I have to say that I do find it interesting that this is the first such post I've seen--AND it didn't appear until men started getting raped.
Sigh.
We have some distance to cover.
And as a person with a loved one in prison (and no doubt dealing with issues of violence of all sorts against his person), I find it interesting that more isn't being done by the families of prisoners. However, I think prisoners just don't want to admit this is happening to them in prison. What man wants to admit he's taking it like that to his mom?
Sigh.
We have some distance to cover.
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