www.crimeprevention101.com: At the UN, Criminalizing Rape as a Weapon
November 3, 2009 by Susan Bartelstone
Filed under That's Criminal
By Bia Assevero
November 3, 2009
In the last week of October, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made headlines and sparked anger in travels to Israel and Pakistan. Her role some weeks earlier was less controversial yet critically important, as she led UN diplomats forward in an action that could ease the suffering of countless women and girls living in conflict zones around the world.
Last year, the United Nations classified the deliberate use of rape as a tactic of war and a major threat to international security. On September 30, 2009, the Security Council went one step further.
Secretary Clinton at the UN Secretary of State Hillary Clinton chaired the session as the Security Council unanimously adopted a U.S. sponsored resolution (S/Res/1888) that called for the appointment of a special envoy charged with coordinating the efforts to combat the use of rape as a weapon of war and assist governments in ending impunity for the perpetrators. Having met with women who survived rape and violence in her recent visit to the Congo, Clinton said in remarks to the council, “The dehumanizing nature of sexual violence doesn’t just harm a single individual or a single family or even a single village or a single group. It shreds the fabric that weaves us together as human beings.”
AmberAlert
NCPC
NY's Women's Agenda
Rape Declaration Forum
Auto Theft
Dear Susan,
This article may be 3 years old, but as a rape victim/survivor, I can tell you first hand, this is not just a personal issue….it is fully a human issue. When men or women use rape to control of malign another person, that person for the rest of he/his life has issues facing the daily structure of their lives and also trusting others, especially the opposite sex. For me up until I could remember I was always looking around at my back, wondering if someone wanted to hurt me. Not only was I raped through intercourse, but I was also molested as a young child between the ages of 11 and 13 by my own uncle. If he did this to me and my own boyfriend two people to whom I knew–then how can I trust anyone who came into my life?
Rape hurts everyone. For me not only was I raped but my rapist got me pregnant, and since I came from an abusive household at the hands of my mother, I told not a person for years–hid my shame and blamed myself for everything–my biggest guilt was having the abortion, and from then on even when I had my two children, I always second guest myself. Always felling the horrible rage within because I was always hurting inslde.
We as humans are messy and complicated but when a person is raped not only do they face everyday wondering if it was their fault, I know for me I had intimacy issues for many years, intimacy with my female friends, not allowing them to see the real me always keeping walls up to protect myself.
This is not a life, not is it a life lived at all. We need to work with each other, not castrate each other’s dignites. RAPE IS A HUMAN CRIME!
WE NEED TO SHATTER THE SILENCE AND STOP IT BEFORE IT STOPS US!
Angelica Harris
Author” Living With Rage-A Quest for Solace”
Thanks Angelica for sharing some of your story. Your book will help and inspire many people to heal.