Good Enough for Us...

Article 3

Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

Does this one seem a little familiar? How different is this really from "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?" One of the reasons that line from the US Declaration is so popular is that in those seven words, so much is encompassed. What shocks me is that we claim these as rights in the US - they are in fact "self-evident" - but yet on the whole we don't react very much when we realize others do not have these rights.

Because Article 3 encompasses so much, there are so many current events that demonstrate how many people don't have these rights (for example, genocide in Darfur, conflict in Somalia, and political oppression in Burma). So I will start with one that particularly effects me: sexual violence against women.

I went to a panel discussion tonight that was raising awareness of the epidemic of rapes in the Democratic Republic of Congo. What struck me about the panel was that I was the only male audience member there. Granted, that could be just because of how the event was advertised and which groups were notified. But even looking beyond this event, the response and efforts of ending the sexual violence and getting help for those already affected seems to be coming more from women's groups. While there seems to be a lot of ambivalence to go around, I still can't fathom how this could possibly be an issue that affects one gender more than another. Everyone needs to step up and get more involved in this issue, but men especially need to be more outraged.

For those of us that are outraged, the effort that was announced tonight is a great place for us to start working to end the rapes in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The group is called Congolese Women's Campaign Against Sexual Violence in DRC. This effort allows Congolese women to tell us what they need - giving a voice to those involved. They have a website that can be read in English, French and Swahili, and they are asking for people to sign their petition. Hopefully, that is a first step among many we can take.