Africa

New Congo Rape Statistics Inspire Competitive Headlines, Not Much Else

by Cara May 12, 2011

A new study about the ongoing rape epidemic in the Congo has some rather terrifying statistics to offer. According to USA Today, 420,000 women are raped in the DRC every year. Or, if you ask the Boston Globe, 1,152 women are raped every day. The Guardian reports that 48 women are raped every hour. And [...]

7 comments Read the full article →

South African Teen Charged With “Underage Sex” After Recanting Rape Allegation

by Cara November 19, 2010

Trigger Warning for descriptions of sexual violence, victim-blaming, and rape apologism There were recently reports of a particularly horrific rape case out of South Africa, in which a 15-year-old Johannesburg girl alleged rape by two 16-year-old and 14-year-old classmates at Jules High School. The alleged rape was filmed by the two alleged perpetrators and a [...]

3 comments Read the full article →

South African Sea Cadet Found Dead Hours After Rape Allegations Were Filed

by Cara July 19, 2010

Trigger Warning for descriptions of sexual violence, poor responses to rape allegations, and discussion of a possible murder, possible suicide. Last month, Akhona Geveza (above), a young South African woman who was participating as a cadet in the Transnet National Ports Authority’s Maritime Studies Programme, was found dead, floating overboard. Only a few hours before [...]

6 comments Read the full article →

For Some Kenyan Women, Toilet Use Means Sexual Violence

by Cara July 12, 2010

Trigger Warning for discussion/descriptions of sexual violence. Last week, Amnesty International released a report about how women in some areas of Nairobi, Kenya are afraid to leave their homes at night to use the bathroom, due to the persistent threat of sexual violence. The report, Insecurity and indignity: Women’s experiences in the slums of Nairobi, [...]

4 comments Read the full article →

On Dismissing Sexual Violence Against Some Women As “Cultural”

by Cara June 25, 2010

Strong Trigger Warning for discussions and descriptions of sexual violence, rape apologism, war, murder, and racism. This morning, an incredible op-ed by Lisa Shannon was published in the New York Times, entitled “No, Sexual Violence is Not ‘Cultural.’” Of course, those of us here know that rape culture is very, very real. But the context [...]

19 comments Read the full article →

Add Your Voice: End the Genocide in Darfur

by Cara December 16, 2008

Now that a Democrat has been elected to the White House, progressive groups everywhere are clamoring to have something positive done about their cause for the first time in 8 years or more. You’ve probably been getting a lot of email alerts, and asked to write a lot of letters. But one of the most [...]

5 comments Read the full article →

Woman Stoned For Adultery in Somalia

by Cara October 30, 2008

Trigger Warning In Somalia, insurgents have stoned a woman to death. The woman, who relatives named as Asha Ibrahim Dhuhulow, was buried in the ground up to her neck and pelted with rocks until she was dead. The “crime” of which she was accused was adultery. The 23-year-old woman was placed in a hole up [...]

12 comments Read the full article →

Blog About The Congo Rape Epidemic

by Cara April 14, 2008

Yesterday was the day to blog about the Congo rape epidemic. As Sunday is my day off from blogging, I missed it — but as I always say when I come in late to these things (a specialty of mine), it’s better late than never, and it’s not too late for you to participate either. [...]

5 comments Read the full article →

What is this “rape” of which you speak?

by Cara March 14, 2008

This morning, I was reading the latest (March 17) issue of Time magazine. It contains an article on the Darfur conflict, and how the lines between “good” guys and “bad” guys are blurring. Of course, there are extended descriptions of the violence and of the impact of that violence. But somehow, the issue of rape [...]

9 comments Read the full article →

Reasons to Take the Bus

by Cara February 19, 2008

A man in London has just been arrested on charges of drugging and raping women he picked up in his taxi cab. Though there are countless published stories about the case, the information is exceedingly limited in all of them. Here is the gist: Up to 35 women may have been drugged and raped by [...]

4 comments Read the full article →

← Previous Entries