Women, Peace, and Security

Calling for an end to Sexual Violence in Conflict and Women's Involvement in Building Bridges of Peace Globally!

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The Women, Peace, and Security Blog can now also be followed on Ch16.org under "Women and Girs in Conflict" and in the NATO Library Research Guide on "Women, Peace, and Security."

WELCOME TO MY BLOG "Women, Peace, and Security"

In 2009 I interviewed a woman about her experiences during the post-election violence in Kenya. The woman's name was Amina, a thirty year old mother of two. During the interview Amina described the night that changed her life:

"Me and my husband were walking home in the dark, it was the election night, when we were attacked by an angry mob. I recognized some of them as my neighbours. They separated us and started beating my husband and raping me. I don't know how many they were, after a while I lost count and became unconcious.

When I woke up I was in pain and bleeding. I found my husband who had been beaten to death, his dead body was lying on the ground covered in blood. After the rapes and murder of my husband, I was tested positive for HIV. I feel very weak and have a hard time supporting my two sons. In the community people look down on me, they think I killed my husband by giving him HIV and they say that I'm a bad woman for sleeping with all those other men."

Unfortunatly, Amina is not alone; women and girls often suffer sexual violence in conflict. Tens of thousands of women were raped in Bosnia, half a million during the Rwandan genocide, and every day women are raped in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Behind every statistic are stories like Amina's.

Last year the Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict Margot Wallström visited the Congo and was told by a survivor that: "A dead rat is worth more than the body of a woman." This blog has been created to raise awareness of sexual violence in conflict and to empower women to work towards a better future were a woman's body is worth more than a dead rat, a future were women are not mere victims and survivors, but also leaders and respected members of their communities.

Together we can raise the awareness about sexual violence in conflict and push our governments to act. We all have a voice; we just have to make ourselves heard. So Please spread the word to friends and family and use facebook, twitter, and other social networking sites. My hope is that you will find this blog interesting and relevant and get back to me with tips, ideas, and comments.

Women build bridges of peace!

Emmicki Roos



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"After raping her they killed her by shooting into her vagina. No action was taken." ( Statement from Burma, The Karen Women's Organization)




"We must be the change we wish to see." M.K. Gandhi

"Crosscultural research demonstrates that gender inequality is the most significant cause of men's violence against women. The policy implications for reducing gendered violence seem clear from this research. We need to reduce the gender power inequality between men and women if we are going to effectively address the problem of men's violence. " (Bob Pease)

"A Liberian woman told me: "The post-conflict phase is a window of opportunity for women. But women don't need a window through which to view a brighter future; they need a door to which to enter it." (The Special Representative to the Secretary General on Sexual Violence in Conflict Margot Wallström)

"My daughter and I were kidnapped while we were shopping. We stayed there for 19 days. I was nine months pregnant at the time. We were tortured very much. They raped me. I had just one week to deliver the baby. But she was dead inside me."( Iraqi Refugee Mother, Women's Commision for Refugee Women and Children)

"There must be no impunity for gender based violence. Let me be clear. What we are talking about is not a side issue. It is not a special interest group or concern to only a few. What we are talking about are not only women's rights but also the human rights of over one half of this globe's population. Violence against women concerns not only women but above all the rest of us." Sergio Vieira de Mello

"We were hiding in the mosque when two rebels dressed in civilian clothing entered. It was dark but they shone their flashlights looking for girls and said, 'We are coming for young girls, for virgins, even if they tie their heads like old grandmothers, we will find them.' They also said that if the people did not hand over the young girls, they would open fire on all of us." (Interview, Sierra Leone, Human Rights Watch)

" Rape, then is the logical consequence of a system of definitions of what is normative. Rape is no excess, no aberration, no accident, no mistake, it embodies sexuality as the culture defines it." (Andrea Dworkin)

"As a human rights issue, the effort to end violence against women becomes a governments obligation, not just a good idea." (Charlotte Bunch)

"I think if we wait for the international community to start a global movement to end sexual violence, then we will be waiting for the rest of our lives. I think it is up to us, women in civil society, to come together and tackle it one continent at a time-in a holistic manner." (Leymah Gbowee, Director of the Women, Peace, and Security Network in Africa)

"A stick was pushed into the private parts of an 18 year old pregnant girl and it appeared through the abdomen. She was torn apart. They (army-backed paramilitaries) stripped the women and made them dance in front of their husbands. Several were raped. You could hear the screams coming from a ranch near El Salado." ( Testimony from a displaced person, Colombia, Amnesty).

" It was then that they took of my skirt and began raping me, with my baby on my back throughout. ...I was raped by three men and my four-year-old daughter was raped by the other three at the same time, lying next to me on the ground. While one raped each of us , the other two would point their guns and hold us down with their feet." (Survivor, the Democratic Republic of Congo, OCHA)

"While I was standing up he was taking off my skirt. When I refused, he pushed me to the ground and then removed it. He took me by force. I felt so much pain when he raped me. He just left me there." (Eleven-year-old survior, the Democratic Republic of Congo, OCHA)

"I was raped by seven child combatants, who were aged between fifteen and sixteen years old, on the way to Kailahun. I was raped in my vagina and analy. Other rebels and also civilians were to afraid to protect me...since my rape, I have only experienced irregular periods and my belly is always swollen like I am pregnant." (Interview, Sierra Leone, Human Rights Watch).

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