13 year old girl stoned to death for being gang-raped.

[Callisto]

www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,24601633-5001021,00.html

Heard this on R4 just now and it makes me so angry. Who thinks that gang-rape is adultery fgs? It sums up Africa to me right now - the ignorance and superstition of men with aids raping babies in SA, the vile things done to women and children in the Congo, why is Africa so lost? How can the mysogynist fuckheads that are Islamic extremist hold such power over these people?

Join Amnesty. They are amazing. I joined a few years back and it is quite eye-opening how much they are aware of and how much they do to change things. And really upsetting how much they have to be aware of

Really worthwhile organisation to be part of.

Another thank you for bringing this up Callisto. When I can clear my head and my desk I intend finding out what I can join (Amnesty sound like a good starting point) and who I can write to on this horrific subject.

The really scary thing is how barbaric and cruel this type of death is and the fact that thousands of people enjoy seeing it as a form of entertainment. It's beyond belief, but thank God it sounds like there were a few decent, humane people in the crowd who tried to intervene.

I'm going to join Amnesty today - it costs £24 for membership and info on joining etc is here: www.amnesty.org.uk/content.asp?CategoryID=73

I also intend to email my MP (Geoffrey Clifton-Brown) who has been sympathetic to my moans in the past. However, it should be drawn to everyone's attention that the Govt is cutting down parliment time to (I think) 128 days next year which means less time to hear new laws and less time for MP's to lobby the govt to do the things we want them to do. But that's a whole other thread...

As for the people thanking me for bringing this up - I thank you, but the irony is striking from the Congo thread I started at the weekend where I was completely flamed for daring to complain that people were too busy gossiping to care about real world stuff.

Gawd, I sound sooo po-faced. I'm not at all like this in RL - I'm actually quite silly and frivolous...

Yes, why is there more and more sexism and general hatred towards women? It should be getting better not worse.

Be aware though that they will contact you regularly to up your subscription. Currently I'm paying £6 a month

when I was telling dh about this ds was horrified.
than you for this thread. I wouldn't have been aware of it other wise. we need to know this stuff, however terrible it is.

I'm joining amnesty as well. you can pay by montly standing order at £2 a month - that doesn't even pay for lunch on a day i don't take sandwiches to work. one lunch a month to try and do something.

i have joined

I've joined Amnesty. Something I'd been meaning to do for years but never got around to until now.

Poor girl and her poor family. Info on the Amnesty news page says people have told them about fleeing this area because they feared the same fate.
www.amnesty.org.uk/news_details.asp?NewsID=17927

Surburban dryad - military friends of mine have been spending lots of time in the DRC over the past year - so we are there as we are in several other places as well.

so sad and yes I think the point about our celeb obsessed world is an important one to make... there should be much more done about this, it isn't the first defenceless human being stoned to death and it won't be the last, it is so wrong.

my god
that is absolutely sickening

1000 spectators
bloody hell

Poor girl, I can't read it either but I am also glad to hear her father was on her side. At least someone was. It's not everyone in those societies who is like this, and I don't think it's helpful simply to blame their culture. It is a symptom of the worst degradations of sexism and misinterpretations of dogma, and the basest aspects of humanity let loose. But degradation like that isn't unique to Africa or Asia, or Islam.

White, non-islamic UK and US society for example has gang rapes, gang murders of people for being gay, parebts killing their own children. Foul, unspeakably cruel behaviour is in human nature and it's also in human nature to overcome it - everywhere.

omg that is so sick, how can this be happening in the same world in which we live.
and

could anyone explain to me whats going on in the congo and sa? i'm clueless but want to find out.

i'm going to join ai to 2 pound a month, well worth it

This is absolutely horrible! That poor child and her father it really does bring home our so called 'problems'.

I keep meaning to join Amnesty but could anyone tell me as daft as it sounds...

how much actually goes to the charity and how much goes to admin this puts me right off paying them IYKWIM. I know that sounds totally heartless but have been caught out with that before. Think it was Bernardo's taking £3 a month and admin costs took £2 of it so £1 goes to charity then... not rigt at all. Sorry for being so much of a div

Also hate to say it but can they actually do anything to stop this kind of thing happening? Unfortunately the 'laws' in these countries seem to prohibit them helping anyone!?!

Sorry if anyone thinks am being insensitive I honestly dont mean to be.

Poor girl - obviously - but it isn't just her - this is an act of a horrible blend of Islamic extremism used for the expedient purposes of war and opression against a whole section of society in Somalia. It is well documented that rape is used deliberately as a tactic in war / civil war / occupation, and it is effective where old tribal customs make a woman vulnerable to 'loss of honour'. If 'honour' wasn't such an issue, then rape wouldn't be such an effective tool. The 'islamic' 'punishment' further terrifies the population and makes the threat of rape eve more bruatlly effective as a weapon.

Pumping money and resources into education and equipping the opposition to these terrible regimes may be better than an armed intervention.

Mamadive - sorry - effective international charities DO cost a lot in admin - and more so because charities are obliged (BY LAW) to spend SO much on the burocracy of accounability.

The organisation of which I am Director is a registered charity - the salaries of experiecned, killed staff are what makes our work effective.

The work of Amnesty International canot be carried out by volunteers in a church hall.

Ooops - skilled staff, not killed. Sorry.

No I didnt mean that in a bad way, I know they cant be expected to take nothing but it would bug me to pay £2 a month and the charity only recieves 50 IYKWIM. But then again I suppose that 50 could help towards something am on the site just now!

But the rest of the money is paying for the people who book the flights for Amnesty staff to take themselves into terrible places, do the political negotiation, print all those leaflets raising awareness and attracting more money...'admin'money very often IS charurtable expenditure.

IF money is spent on something totally unrelated, then fair enough.

Have joined Amnesty.

My goodness think that should be my new years resolution to try and do more for charity...

I always buy a gift for some children in the local care home, volunteer in BHF shop and have joined this now.

Have been good this year but could be doing more.

Blu do you mind me asking what charity you work for?