A Woman Fighting for Her Rights in the Middle of a War
John Johnston
11/21/2008
6:15pm
The article follows a girl, Cassandra, who witnessed the death of her cousin and friend for no apparant reason. The Democratic Republic of Congo has long opressed women despite a peace-agreement that was passed in January. The media, along with Cassandra, has followed this war against violence toward women since day one, which has now taken over 5 million lives. Cassandra has written countless letters and has even organized a candlelight vigil in honor of the slain women. However, through her many hours of work police have opposed her attempts for peace by reacting with violence. She has even been beaten and taken to jail for her attempts, but she kept headstrong and opposed the police force even as they were doing this. While in prison, she was beaten and sexually abused. She is now sitting before the United State Immigration Courts and is hoping to be protected under the Immigration and Nationality Act and Convention Against Torture.
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Cassandra is a whisp in a hurrican, so to speak. The Democratic Republic of Congo, having killed millions of lives in their violence against women, is a foul and rudimentary government that is not realizing the facet of today's society. All over the world, women are being mistreated and beaten and raped for no reason alone, save for the excuse that they are "second class citizens". This does not make sense to me, as most of the countries that have started movements to protest the violence against women are not recognized by the government. Even the governments that have signed laws against this kind of violence do not enforce them. The entire process is extremely unefficient and calls for reform. For a country to go as chaotic as the Democratic Republic of Congo and no one do anything, it seems a little messed up. I do not necessarily suggest the United States get involved, but I don't see how it would hurt. What extremes would the United States get involved, though, is another issue all in itself. I do suggest that some attention be paid, at a global level, so that appropriate action may be taken.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nina-boyajian/a-womens-rights-advocate_b_145360.html
1 comment:
I don't see HOW the US could get involved. I totally agree things can't continue like this, but somehow I feel that basically, this is an issue of culture, and like we learned in class, it takes decades for culture to match technological changes. So even in the nations that are making progress, it will be quite a while before we see any real gains in women's rights.
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