TW extreme violence - this attack on female prisoners in Congo is the worst thing I have read for a very long time

[Haemagoblin]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/05/democratic-republic-congo-goma-women-raped-burned-death-prison-m23-rebels-rwanda?fbclid=IwY2xjawIQX7xleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHemsguOI8cv8UT4voiT9x3bl2dufyDDI-StI5eki8NoAHcesvL8SybTXJw_aem_SyJDMX6gA4mwgI1VW50GpA

Just utterly horrific. Those poor defenceless women.

What astonishes me is that this happened LAST WEEK and is only today in the UK press. And this isn't even headlines, because of that excrescence Trump and his dangerous rambling.

Women (especially black women, especially women from the developing world, especially poor and marginalised women) mean absolutely nothing on the global stage. Their lives and hideous deaths mean nothing. It makes me so angry I could scream.

This is the kind of thing that used to happen in pre-history (the rape of the Sabine women for example, and why the women in Xanthos threw themselves off a cliff rather than be caught by the invading Persians). Seems we've not moved on at all. Men. Disgusting.

I read, either yesterday or today, about some scientists doing work on Neanderthal DNA to see if they can work out just what it is that has meant we are the only surviving hominin species. And I had the awful feeling that it is on the XY chromosome and it conveys all the things we women would like to see bred out of men. And they aren't going to find it in their petri dishes.
It doesn't matter how many women they kill if just a few can be forced to carry their obscene genes through to adulthood. And knowing what they do, who is not going to let them impregnate them with their parasites.

This is a truly horrifying event. The situation in the DRC is covered in Christina Lamb's book Our Bodies, Their Battlefield - What War Does to Women. It is a very difficult read. The Mukwege Foundation also works with victims of sexual violence in conflict areas and have local knowledge of the area for those who want to follow them on social media. They do fantastic work supporting women.

I think most people are capable of understanding it just fine.

Well I dont think I am exceptional and as the point of a trigger warning is to be clear there is an issue, it certainly isn't useful to use initials which on this forum by and large have a totally different meaning.

Most people who use this, would never shorted to 2 letters, given its importance as a warning.

This is just horrendous and shouldn't happen in a modern world.
It also really contrasts strongly with a certain group's claim that they are the most vulnerable and marginalised.

@IwantToRetire it is virtually always shown as two letters rather than spelled out

This is the kind of thing that used to happen in pre-history

This is still common in areas of conflict. You must be aware of happened when Russian troops "liberated" parts of Europe.

Not forgetting the "Comfort Women" of in countries occupied by Japan in WWII

Let alone what happened to the Chibok school girls who not suffered male violence, but when eventually arrived home were ostricised by their own community.

And what is going on in areas of Asia and Africa show that it certainly isn't something from a dim distance part.

And sadly as much more recent events of 7th October 2023 also show.

Just to repeat in terms of leaflets and information distributed it is recommended to spell it out, because it may be common but isn't universally known. And if it isn't effective as warning it fails.

It maybe that some online space us the abbreviation but probably because of lacking the thinking behind it.

Especially on a public forum like this, where women who many never have been of a forum like this, it is always better to err on the side of being obvious rather than just assuming everyone will think like you or know what you know.

Good grief, what a horror show. Like ICake I can't bring myself to read beyond the headline.

It's entirely horrific.

This is a truly horrifying event. The situation in the DRC is covered in Christina Lamb's book Our Bodies, Their Battlefield - What War Does to Women.

I've got the book, it's on my reading pile, but I've not been able to bring myself to read it yet.

Me too. I really should though. I feel like I owe it to the women who have suffered.

I also thought it meant Trans women as on this board TW is used more often in that sense. And the title made sense. But I'm new here so ..

It is definitely a difficult read, there were several points where I had to put down the book and walk away. Denis Mukwege, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work helping women who were victims of sexual violence, runs a hospital, the Panzi Hospital in the area. He also has a book The Power of Women.

The Lamb book is a really tough read. What some men will do to women is beyond belief.

I have known how awful the DRC is, and especially for women, since researching it with my husband, who wrote a novel set there. The country has great wealth, but the local populations are treated appallingly, and rape and sexual assault are used as weapons to make the population compliant - carried out not only by invaders such as M23 and convicts, but also by the hirlings of companies bent on extracting the mineral wealth of the country without spending too much on the workforce. Corruption as well.

It's a heartbreaking and enraging story in equal measure. Words seem almost futile.

And seems to be yet another country whose natural resources are only as valuable as they are because western consumers want it - in this instance for mobile phones.

How many "must ahve" items do we have in the west that are actually the cause of creating an increasingly dangerous explotation of the land, which will bring little or not benefit to local people.

https://www.theafricareport.com/375904/drc-rwanda-rubaya-coltan-mine-at-the-heart-of-m23-financing/

In any part of the world where when are in violent gangs / armies women suffer. Look at Haiti where gangs are basically in charge.

Gang rule in Haiti has led to a staggering rise in sexual violence against children, the United Nations' children's organisation has warned.
Sexual violence against children has increased 1,000% since 2023, turning their bodies "into battlegrounds", spokesman James Elder said.
Unicef estimates 85% of the capital Port-au-Prince is under the control of gangs. More than one million children are living with the constant threat of violence.
As happened to a 16-year-old girl who had left home to go shopping, and then was seized by armed men. She was beaten, drugged, and repeatedly raped.
She was held for around one month, he said, until the gang let her go when they realised her family had no money to pay a ransom. Kidnappings for extortion are common in Haiti.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cdjdp7m7wkdo

Men should all be kept in cages.

Armed fighters have raped scores of children in eastern Congo, UNICEF says

“In the North and South Kivu provinces, we are receiving horrific reports of grave violations against children by parties to the conflict, including rape and other forms of sexual violence at levels surpassing anything we have seen in recent years,” UNICEF’s Executive Director Catherine Russell said in a statement.

“One mother recounted to our staff how her six daughters, the youngest just 12 years old, were systematically raped by armed men while searching for food,”

https://apnews.com/article/congo-children-rape-m23-congo-amry-66e7fc667ca022a02a3f37bf18f80776

Oh give it a rest. Everyone except you knows what it means and are far more concerned about the poor victims of this atrocity.

I couldn't read beyond the headlines either. I don't understand why no-one cares. It's like they might care for a day or two but in the scheme of things it's brushed over and just forgotten. I wonder how it would be perceived if this happened to men.

Oh give it a rest. Everyone except you knows what it means and are far more concerned about the poor victims of this atrocity.

What a really stupidly complacent thing to say.

Others have pointed out it is confusing.

Its all very well getting moralistic and saying because I understand its alright.

Anybody with any experience and consideration of the actual purpose would be much more likely to say and think, I will be more careful next time I use it. Even if only one person benefits from it being spelt out that is better that my smug I'm alright jack.

And no I wasn't going on about it.

But thanks to you diving in at the deep end days after this had been discussed you have provided me with the opportunity to re-state that this is a public notice board where a wide range of readers could be of a very different level of awareness.