when i see a video, and i hear people cheer the video seeing a girl,

[Violet_Crumble]

42. I agree with you, BainsBane...

I had the same reaction as you about the hides, and also haven't yet watched the video. While I'm a visual person and something visual can get its message home to me more powerfully than even 2,000 words describing it, I don't think I'm emotionally strong enough at the moment to sit through it. Plus I don't think I'm part of the target audience of people who thanks to the media don't take notice of something if it happens in Africa and are too fixated on their own patch of turf to register that terrible, horrific things are happening in the DRC...

I got what the intent of the film-makers was, though, and I suspect that the vast majority of people who watched it would have reacted with horror and want to find out about what's going on in the DRC and see what they can do to help stop it. I'm aware from reading those threads that while most DUers who posted had that exact reaction, that wasn't the case for everyone...

Uppityperson posted an OP in GD that's a good starting point for finding about more information and what we can do to help.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024619365

Amnesty International also has information. I'm a member and for anyone wanting to do something, no matter how small, joining AI is a good thing to do....

Violence against women and girls

Women and girls bore the horrific cost of intensified hostilities and were widely subjected to rape and other forms of sexual violence committed both by the FARDC and armed groups. Women and girls at particular risk were those in villages targeted for looting and intimidation operations by armed groups and the national army, as well as those living in camps for displaced people, who often had to walk long distances to reach their fields.

•Between April and May, M23 combatants reportedly raped several dozen girls and women in the Jomba area in Rutshuru territory in North Kivu, where the M23 established its base. Most of those attacked had been displaced by the conflict.

Sexual violence was more pervasive where the national army lived alongside the population.

•In late November, the UN reported that the FARDC were responsible for at least 126 cases of rape within a few days in Minova where the national army had retreated after the fall of Goma on 20 November.

Elsewhere in the country, members of the national police and other security forces continued to commit acts of rape and sexual violence.

Rape survivors were stigmatized by their communities, and did not receive adequate support or assistance.

Impunity

Impunity continued to fuel further human rights abuses. Efforts by judicial authorities to increase the capacity of the courts to deal with cases, including cases involving human rights abuses, had only limited success; many older cases did not progress. The Ministry of Justice’s initiatives in 2011 to address impunity for past and current crimes under international law were stalled and victims continued to be denied access to truth, justice and reparations. Court rulings were not implemented and key cases, such as the Walikale and the Bushani and Kalambahiro mass rapes of 2010 and 2011, progressed no further.


Although the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights asked the civil and military judicial authorities in February to open investigations into allegations of electoral violence, there was little evidence of any progress in the investigations during the year.

http://www.amnesty.org/en/region/democratic-republic-congo/report-2013#section-37-4