Loss of Privacy

In the Congo (DRC), rape is an every day occurrence. They are then shunned by their families and communities. Masika Katsuva is taking in those women and trying to make a difference in their lives.

FIELD OF HOPE PREVIEW from STUDIO 9 FILMS on Vimeo.

“We women have something precious that everyone seems to be after. ” – Masika Katsuva

In a corner of Eastern Congo (DRC), Masika Katsuva is planting rows of seed in a field. Masika and the women farming with her are all survivors of the worst brutalities imaginable, multiple rapes and violent assaults.

The field is their hope, their therapy and their source of food and income.

They come to this refuge as victims, punished by the violation of rape, blamed and rejected by their families and the local community.

Masika becomes a mother figure to the women and their children – the results of rape – and as they plant, tend, harvest and finally sell their crops they begin to heal together.

A Studio 9 Film produced, directed and filmed by Fiona Lloyd-Davies.

The CNN article is graphic and difficult to read, but everyone should.

Like so many women survivors, she too was rejected when she and her two teenage daughters were raped by militia men. Her husband was murdered in front of her, chopped up and she was forced to eat his private parts.

I know I write a lot about the western world and how our privacy and civil rights have been compromised or taken away, yet I can still leave my house on a daily basis and never worry about being raped multiple times before I return home. Rape should never be an acceptable part of your daily life.

You can find out more at CNN, reddit, and Masika’s website. Elections will be held on November 28, 2011, but will anything change?

If you’d like to help out and donate, you need to do it directly with your bank.

Veena Malik has stood up to a misogynistic culture in the hopes of changing people’s ideas. While some would not expect Veena Malik to be on a reality TV show, she did so because she was trying to break the Indian stereotype that Muslim Pakistanis are all crazy fundamentalist terrorists. She does a lot to raise awareness to charitable works. Veena is also supporting six siblings and paying for their way through school. If she did nothing else in life, these three things are highly admirable.

At the heart of the problem, Veena has been called a bad Muslim and a bad representative for the Pakistani people. She is outspoken. She does not travel with a male family member. She is unmarried. She does not dress as commanded to by the Qur’an. Veena counters with the belief that it is she who should be able to determine what is and is not a good Muslim. I say she is right. She is being judged by fundamentalists and an outdated book instead of by the things she has actually done. The Qur’an may say she’s a bad Muslim, but I said she’s a good person and it’s the latter that should count far more.

At the end of the video, Veena Malik makes a very significant point that everyone, regardless of nationality, needs to listen to. When people in the house were slandering her, making fun of her, and being disgraceful towards Pakistanis, where were her people and the Pakistani media then? Did they defend her? Did they call out those who were being racist? No, they let her stand alone.

I am very impressed by Veena Malik and I really hope I never have to read the headline that she was honor killed. However, it should come as no surprise to anyone that the Taliban has now threatened her and her family. I don’t care if people think that Veena is an attention seeker or a vapid woman. No one deserves threats on their life or innocent family members simply for speaking their minds and voicing an opinion.

These photos are being made by Leil-Zahra Mortada on Facebook.  You can also find them here.  I am merely putting a few up in case other websites cannot handle the load. Not everyone has a Facebook account.  Many cannot even access Facebook due to their country’s restrictions on the site.

It is now being reported that the women have told the men to get some rest as many men have been awake for several days.  The women will take over and continue to fight.

Yahoo! news attempted to censor a photo of the Boobs on Bikes parade down Auckland’s Queen Street.

They’re just boobs anyway. No need to censor them, or their reflections, in the first place.