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A day for women to remember rape, torture
The Daily News Online
March 10, 2005

http://www.daily-news.co.za

IN Zimbabwe, there could have been satisfaction of sorts as we joined the rest of the world in celebrating the United Nations International Women’s Day, 8 March. But for the UN itself, this could not have been a day for much celebration.

Some of its soldiers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have been charged with raping local women. In the Darfur region of Sudan many women have been raped as well.

In most conflicts around the world, the rape of women has been used to humiliate the perceived enemy, physically and psychologically. In Zimbabwe, there were reports of the so-called Green Bombers youth militia, at the peak of their notoriety, using rape for similar purposes.

There are no records of any of these savages being charged, tried and convicted for their crimes. Yet there may be many women, young and old, traumatised for life by the brutality of these young bullies.

But as women commemorated a day set aside for the enhancement of their status in society, unforgettable is the ugly picture of men in the familiar blue berets of the UN soldiers, forcing their stinking bodies on helpless, screaming African women. Some of the men have used food as inducement for the women’s sexual favours.

The UN has promised to charge the soldiers or have them prosecuted by their own governments. But this may not be enough to salvage the reputation of the UN soldiers in general.

The women’s lives, in most cases, have been ruined and there can be no suitable compensation for their violation. Yet the UN must examine ways in which the victims must have some of their dignity restored.

The governments of the soldiers’ countries must be called to account. If it is proved that a country’s soldiers were involved in this conduct more than any other, then that state must be black-listed – never again to be asked to provide troops for any UN mission, even to guard animals.

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