When I've written about sexual violence in Darfur, Congo and, most recently, Liberia, I always get frustrated emails from readers: But what can I do?"
It's a question I never have a very good answer to, other than to support the various groups active in the field, such as the International Rescue Committee, Doctors Without Borders, Panzi and Heal Africa hospitals, and so on.
Now there's a push on the Web to galvanize attention to the issue and allocate resources to it. It's called "Silence Is the Enemy," because the discomfort of talking about sexual violence has been one of the obstacles that has allowed the violence to continue. Attention won't automatically solve the problems, but it raises the costs to those engaging in mass rape or supporting those who do. One website to find out more is the Intersection blog at Discover Magazine, where Sheril Kirshenbaum writes:
In 2006 I was sexually assaulted. I never expected to blog about it. One evening in DC, a stranger grabbed me as I walked from the metro stop to my apartment after work. I wish I could say I screamed or fought back, but I was too horrified. Instead I could only stare in disbelief at the jackass holding me down. This can't be happening. In a desperate scramble I somehow managed to break away before it escalated to rape and ran inside my building. He winked and blew a kiss from behind the glass door, as if to say `oh well, next time'....
Today begins a very important initiative called Silence Is the Enemy to help a generation of young women half a world away. Why? Because they are our sisters and children -- the victims of sexual abuse who don't have the means to ask for help. We have power in our words and influence. Along with our audience, we're able to speak for them. I'm asking all of you -- bloggers, writers, teachers, and concerned citizens -- to use whatever platform you have to call for an end to the rape and abuse of women and girls in Liberia and around the world.
Another partner in the Silence Is the Enemy effort, a public health expert named Tara Smith, explores the issue on her science blog. She emphasizes the importance of speaking out and raising awareness:
No, gang rape isn't exactly great fodder for cocktail parties. It's incredibly uncomfortable and depressing to speak about -- and that's probably one reason it's gone on as long as it has, with relatively little attention. It's taboo to discuss -- not only in countries like Liberia or Sudan, but here in the US as well. It needs to stop, and we can help make that happen. Talk to someone about this. If you can't do it in person, write a letter. Write your congressperson. Hell, write your mayor. Highlight it on your own blog. See if a local women's group -- or any other group interested in global health or women's rights -- has covered the issue recently, and if not, offer them any of the linked articles to spark the conversation. Email your local newspapers or TV stations. Send a mass email to your friends -- this is certainly more important and worthy of their attention than the latest viral YouTube video, right?
I hope this effort gains ground and support from other bloggers. This is one of those fields where links and support from around the Web could create a groundswell to focus more attention on sexual violence, and that's the first step toward getting respectability for the cause -- and, then, for prevention efforts. My wife and I write about the issue in our forthcoming book, "Half the Sky," in part because it's shattering to go to places like Darfur or Eastern Congo and talk to survivors.
On my last trip to Congo, I was interviewing a rape victim and tried to give her a little privacy by stepping off and sitting under a tree with her. Then pretty soon a crowd of women came near, and I grew irritated at their voyeurism and asked them to leave. "We're all rape victims," the woman in front said. "We're all her
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