Yesterday, March 8th, was International Women’s day.Before you stop reading because you feel it is not relevant to you, I’d like to say this applies to Commerce students as well as men as much as it applies to women.
The laptop you are reading this on as well as the cellphone in your pocket contains a material called Coltan (Also know as Tantalum in the western world). The many multinational companies that together produce millions of consumer electronics often have no idea where from and how the Coltan they acquire came to be; it has changed hands so many times at this point that it is ‘not their business’ anymore.
Where does it come from?
Apart from Australia (being the largest producer), there lies an infamous country: the Democratic Republic of Congo produces 25% of the world’s Coltan. Statistical analysis has shown that it is inconceivable that all the Sony Playstations produced could have possibly existed without illegal Coltan from the DRC, although companies undoubtedly claim otherwise but one has to wonder if you have no idea where it came from how can you claim that it is legal?
As many of you know,The Democratic Republic of Congo is a war torn country that has been pillaged and plundered consistently for its many natural resources since the 1870’s. The Second Congo War began in 1998. Although peace agreements have been signed, the lack of impunity have upheld human rights violations, especially toward women.
How is Coltan acquired?
For 12 years, militia men have violently raped the women of the Congo. Rape during war has always been rampant. Originally it was thought that rape, in the case of the Congo, was simply a similar by-product of war. The truth is far more horrifying.
Militia men are taught and told to rape all the women of the village, usually killing the men around. They are raped consistently, by many men, often for days. This causes a complete lack of cohesion between what was once a community. People, each suffering from their own nightmares, flee in haphazard directions, running from the pain that was brought to them. Following this, the militia men take over the mines that belonged to the village to, you guessed it: take Coltan (as well as other resources). This is then sold off to Western markets. And we all know of the boom in electronics in the recent decade which cause the demand and price of Coltan to increase. In fact,the 2000 launch of th e PS2 caused a surge in the price of Coltan from $49/pound to $275/pound.
And that is how Rape, what we consider an inhumane and brutal act, what we thought only happened to the rare unlucky victim, turned into a full fledged, well thought out, consistent, political war strategy.
Questioning the aftermath:
The number is estimated at 200,000 women raped over a period of 12 years. Survivors usually suffer in silence, fearing stigma and ostracism if their ordeal is made public. However keeping it private is a hard thing to do as many cannot ever walk properly and suffer from incontinence, as well as HIV and other diseases. Most cannot make it to one of the very few clinics available to be operated on. Their ages vary from 9 month old girls to 81 year old women. Watching a video of one of the few outspoken women in a new campaign to break the silence I recall the words of a 45 yr old woman: ‘Men, I breastfed you, I gave birth to your children, how do you disrespect me so?’
When rape occurred in Bosnia, it was stopped in 2 years through the work of the UN and the campaigning of the rest of the world. How is that it has lasted for 12 years in the Congo. I dare say it is a racism issue. These are not white women,these are black women. Most people think of Africa as a strange far away land where atrocities always seem to happen and always will. Does that not ring true to your ears? Reality and logic, however, says they are human just like everyone else and it is because the world does not care enough about them that it is never stopped.The UN is full of good intentions…as well as red tape, bureaucracy and a priority system. And the Congolese women just are not on their priority list. Even more surprising is the fact that the UN is now investigating claims that UN peacekeepers in the Congo were involved in sexual exploitation acts.
A shout out to the Men of our generation:
The world has had the tendency to see violence against women as a woman’s problem. It is not only a woman to woman problem,i t is not only a man to woman problem, it is a man to man problem.
In our society, we praise men who hide their emotions, who are never unsure of themselves, who seem invulnerable. I am grateful to see that in my generation of men I see the exact opposite, or at least a shift towards the opposite. Real men, who are comfortable with who they are, not caring about hiding behind a macho shell, sensitive to the problems of others regardless of gender. However, it is not as though men get together and sit around a table and discuss the very male problem of rape. This might seem like asking for too much. The change we need is for a man to stand up to another man when he is committing a wrong-doing, without the fear of embarrassment or being laughed at by his friends. For men to stand up and talk about how they feel about what others do and have their voice heard about the issue just like women do. The change we need is for men to have the courage to make rape their issue as well. That is really the only revolution we need.
Is it really asking for too much considering everything you have just read?
So this Women’s day, please think of the brave women of Congo.
Think of social corporate responsibility. As Commerce students many of us will go on to work for companies or create our own companies. Remember to question. Rember to consider beyond price,demand and supply.
The market is a heartless, soulless economic institution that affects endless hearts and souls.
