HBO 4/8/2008... The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo

[slipslidingaway]

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/04/05/8106/

“Rape has always been used as a weapon of war” is the opening line of the new documentary film The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo. For 76 minutes the film exposes the incredibly brutal civil war that has raged for over ten years in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Not only have over four million people been killed, but over 250,000 women and girls have been raped, kidnapped, and tortured.The film, which premiers on HBO April 8th, vividly captures the silent and often ignored rape survivors in their country where chaos and violence are part of every day. One element that makes the film so powerful is that director Lisa F. Jackson has a reason to feel very much connected to the subject matter: in 1976 she was gang-raped as she was leaving her Washington D.C. office late at night. The three men who attacked her were never caught...


...There is also a markedly misogynistic rationale behind the rapes: the soldiers express the deep-rooted social belief that women are inferior and therefore men can take what they want from them - including sex. Even when Jackson directly asks the men how they would feel if their mothers and sisters were raped, the grave reality of the sexual violence these soldiers have committed doesn’t seem to resonate with them.

After witnessing these interviews, Kalume - whose first wife, a Tutsi, was murdered during Rwandan genocide in 1994 - is very upset about what his native Congo has become. He thinks of his daughters and the terrible fate that befalls so many Congolese women. “If a society cannot protect women and kids, what kind of society is that?” asks Kalume. “If men themselves start to torture, to kill, to kidnap, to rape women and teenagers, how can you say this is normal, a society of human beings? It becomes just a real jungle - that is what we are living in - it’s a real jungle.”


....Such extreme poverty should not be happening in a country with such vast natural resources. But the Congolese people are not benefiting from the gold, diamonds, and coltan (a metallic ore used in all computers, cell phones, and DVD players) sales; instead, most of the natural resources are stolen and illegally exported - and ironically the profits then fuel the conflict..."

[applegrove]

1. Thanks for the post. My sister and her church have just sponsored

an immigrant family from the Congo. He was tortured.

And it has been going on for 40 years that none of that huge amount of natural resources get to the people. Time to end that.

[slipslidingaway]

3. Unfortunately resources belong to those who have the guns...

kudos to your sister and her church for giving a family another chance.

:)

[Eurobabe]

2. Thank you for posting this, just TiVO'd

[slipslidingaway]

4. YW, we do not have HBO...

it was replaced many years ago with Disney :) and then never added back.

Hope it brings some attention to the struggle of some many women.

[Iris]

5. Sounds powerful.

I really need to get HBO.

[slipslidingaway]

8. Maybe we should as well, although I hate to add another

monthly fee.

:shrug:

[Iris]

13. I know. That's exactly why I don't have it!

[Iris]

14. Just found out you can see this even if you don't have HBO.

"The Greatest Silence" airs Tuesday at 10 p.m. EDT on HBO. And if you don't have HBO, the movie's site has a trailer and information on upcoming screenings. It also has a list of organizations working to help stop the rapes and help victims. Check it out."

http://www.thegreatestsilence.org/filmmaker.html


(from Salon.com http://www.salon.com/mwt/broadsheet)

[ThomWV]

6. Isn't it suprising how often HBO gets it right?

[slipslidingaway]

9. Not sure...

we have not subscribed for years, I'll have to read the reviews for now.

[helderheid]

7. Error: you can only recommend threads which were started in the past 24 hours

[slipslidingaway]

10. Maybe you could post another thread later tonight or tomorrow

for those that might be interested.

:shrug:

[helderheid]

11. Will do!

[slipslidingaway]

12. Thank you! :)) n/t