Rape in wars, conditions of political turmoil, and everyday situations.

Jul 14 04:27 UTC 1998

Recently, there was NPR news coverage of the rape of Chinese women
 in Suharto's Indonesia. During the riots aimed at making him resign in
 the midst of an economic melt-down to try to end the financial crisis,
 a group of military-looking men went through the posh apartments
 where wealthy chinese families were known to live, and raped chinese
 women in front of their husbands and children.

 They also stripped some women in the streets and told them to "dance
 like animals" at gunpoint. Other stories included one about a chinese
 family trying to flee Indonesia. The mother and her 4 daughters (the
 youngest was 10 or 12) were promised safe passage to an airport by
 a gang of men, but they raped them all repeatedly for 24 hrs or so,
 before finally taking them to the airport.

 Then I read about this rape in the paper - in India. A woman who
 was sexually abused and tormented for 7 years was gang-raped by a
 group of some 11 men in the student dorm. (on a university campus)
 while others stood around watched and cheered... When she filed charges,
 people in authority questioned her character and whether she asked for it.
 She dropped out of school.

 Reading or hearing about these stories makes me cringe and bristle with
 anger.  Which brought me to this thought : I was angry because I couldn't
 think of anything I could do in the general direction of seeing the crap
 beaten out of the perpetrators.

 I know, I know. I am all for due process, and reasonnable doubt...
 What I am really talking about is some sort of "Amnesty International"
 type organization to help women who were raped like this.

 Is there any such international organization that handles this aspect
 of oppression? I'd like to at least contribute some cash, so I feel I've
 done *something* to send a message to the bastards who abuse their powers
 (police, military, armed "liberators") and something to make them feel
 that it is not THAT safe to violate people/women and that they will
 be prosecuted like war criminals, and it won't be forgotten.

response 2 of 10:

Jul 14 22:34 UTC 1998

I wish I knew of something, Garima, because such stories make me ill with anger
and frustration!   Unfortunately, I don't.  The fact is, that around the world,
women and children are reasonably safe victims.  It always boils down to the
perpetrator's word against the victim's -- and generally the perpetrator has
the weight of social authority on his side when the victim is a woman or a
child.

I'm sorry Rick, because I know you're a kind  person and aren't implying that
women in any sense deserve to be raped -- but asking about consent in the case
of rape is a lot like asking about consent in the case of a mugging.  

People do, from time to time, give strangers money on the street.  People do
not generally consent to being mugged.  People do, from time to time consent to
sex, but people do not generally consent to be raped.

In both cases the story can be told in a way that implies consent or not.  ("I
told him to give me money, and he did.") But it should not fall entirely to the
victim to prove his or her lack of consent.

In the cases Garima mentioned there can be no question but that it was a
violent act and not a consensual act later regretted.

response 4 of 10:

Jul 15 17:40 UTC 1998

there is <was?> a group in the seattle area that went to
bosnia/croatia and counseled the women victims there.
they also taught them some serious self-defense and supported them
through the ordeal of testifying in a court of war crimes.

the campaign used to be called 'i am your witness'.. dont know if it still
is.
if i find anything, if anyone is interested, 'll post details.

response 6 of 10:

Jul 16 03:06 UTC 1998

Amnesty International may be helping in this regard, I am not sure.  
Maybe try the World Health Organization (WHO)? I do know they are on a campaign
to stop the practice of female circumcision in third world countries. It's
interesting to note that female circumcision has been going on for ages, and
never makes headlines. Yet when ONE man had his penis cut off, it made news for
weeks.

Another thing I've noticed, that no one seems to have: The school killing in
Jonesboro... the victims were all female. To my knowledge, no male child was
shot or injured. One of the killers was upset about a girl dumping him. While
it would have been just as tragic if a boy had been killed as well, why is no
one calling this an act of misogyny, when that's clearly what it was?

(I live close to Jonesboro, it's still raw here)

response 8 of 10:

Jul 18 15:54 UTC 1998

I heard at least one "in depth" story on NPR.  

response 10 of 10:

Jul 31 04:40 UTC 1998

I think I'll send money to Amnesty International.