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Big_Bird
Joined: 31 Jan 2003
Location: Sometimes here sometimes there...
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 Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2007 1:39 am Post subject: |
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Well, I agree with you that we should be more concerned about the misery of other human beings, and do what we can to help it. But it seems that most people are not interested in world affairs or politics. Particularly women, who might be the ones most outraged by this. Look how few women post on this forum for example.
You need to ask these questions to the media corporations and find out why these issues aren't a point of focus. I think they'll probably give you some of the reasons I have already speculated on.
I also think the 'MASSES' don't generally have much interest in world affairs. They're the ones buying Woman's Day and Loaded. |
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Alyallen
Joined: 29 Mar 2004
Location: The 4th Greatest Place on Earth = Jeonju!!!
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| Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2007 1:49 am Post subject: |
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| ChimpumCallao wrote: |
| Big_Bird wrote: |
| ChimpumCallao wrote: |
| I cannot say I knew about these horrors in 1990, as I was 8 at the time, but I have also been aware of these horrific going ons for a while now, but most people do not. Its a shame. |
Well, I wouldn't have been aware of them in 1990 either, as I was too young to care. But certainly several years pre 9-11 I read about these kind of things going on in South Africa, and also war torn African countries. Maybe you were not taking much notice at that time - which is not a criticism by the way. |
Once again, not the point, although yes, I knew about it, as I interened at a news place for a while and my job was to troll around the internet for interesting newstories. NOT THE POINT though- it doesnt matter what you knew. A college educated female who cares about politics and the world around her and reads newspapers and seeks to continuously inform herself does NOT an average person make.
The point is that the MASSES are very unaware about this- they do not know about this and this is not made public in the same way that general poverty is, or the iraq war, or myriad other things. And its a BIG deal. Something to truly be outraged about. I am saying these stories should be made mainstream and written about every day. That is my opinion. I want more people to know about what is going on- and the disgusting extent of it. It can only help. Especially since MANY people are unaware. |
Well...if you look at when these things come up in the media is in the middle of a war or ethnic conflict. And why is that? It's because it occurs in numbers large enough to sound some alarms. I think the masses may be very aware but think of it as a sad and sick instrument of war. The same thing happened during the battles in the Balkans. Numbers of women were brutalized, raped, and murdered. I don't think anyone thought these instances were cultural in nature.
What's the worse way to defame a man in Africa(there are probably exceptions but I'm not sure)? Rape his wife and/or daughters bonus points if they become pregnant. It's a cruel instrument of war that even in this article acknowledged that it became so common place that it doesn't even seem brutal anymore. Women won't speak up because in some areas that is reason enough to be abandoned and essentially disowned from your family.
This has been in the news. This has been talked about. But unfortunately, the first thing that needs to be done is to make the country stable again. That's why in Sudan and The Congo, they are trying to get villagers to go back to their villages and resume a normal existence so order and social justice can once again regain its footing.
Why do I know all this? It's because I read articles that are available to millions of other people who can read the English language and simply have to click a link to learn more. They can print all the stories they want but if people don't want to read them or turn the channel when its mentioned, what can we do to stop them? As Bib_Bird mentioned, donor fatigue is a problem and unfortunately people are hitting a wall with Africa where they feel as if they've pumped all this money into this continent and nothing has changed and that you can't guilt them into giving anymore. |
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Big_Bird
Joined: 31 Jan 2003
Location: Sometimes here sometimes there...
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| Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2007 1:56 am Post subject: |
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You make a very good point there, Alyallen. A lot of where this sexual assualt is rampant is in places like the Congo where there is conflict. Liberia itself has only just come out of a war. Sexual abuse on this massive scale is generally due to war. To stop this stuff in the first place, we actually have to stop the wars. That's going to take a lot more than the masses reading about it in the newspapers, or going to a benefit gig.
There are other instances though where war is not involved, like the dreadfully high incidence of rape in South Africa. |
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Alyallen
Joined: 29 Mar 2004
Location: The 4th Greatest Place on Earth = Jeonju!!!
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| Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2007 2:27 am Post subject: |
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| Big_Bird wrote: |
You make a very good point there, Alyallen. A lot of where this sexual assualt is rampant is in places like the Congo where there is conflict. Liberia itself has only just come out of a war. Sexual abuse on this massive scale is generally due to war. To stop this stuff in the first place, we actually have to stop the wars. That's going to take a lot more than the masses reading about it in the newspapers, or going to a benefit gig.
There are other instances though where war is not involved, like the dreadfully high incidence of rape in South Africa. |
Sure....but that can just as easily be true in another country not on the continent of Africa. Let's not forget that a number of rapes go unreported all over the world... |
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Big_Bird
Joined: 31 Jan 2003
Location: Sometimes here sometimes there...
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| Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2007 2:38 am Post subject: |
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| Alyallen wrote: |
| Big_Bird wrote: |
You make a very good point there, Alyallen. A lot of where this sexual assualt is rampant is in places like the Congo where there is conflict. Liberia itself has only just come out of a war. Sexual abuse on this massive scale is generally due to war. To stop this stuff in the first place, we actually have to stop the wars. That's going to take a lot more than the masses reading about it in the newspapers, or going to a benefit gig.
There are other instances though where war is not involved, like the dreadfully high incidence of rape in South Africa. |
Sure....but that can just as easily be true in another country not on the continent of Africa. Let's not forget that a number of rapes go unreported all over the world... |
I agree. For example Japan seems to have a terrible problem with rape. Women's groups report that it is an enormous problem in Japan, and yet it is almost never reported. It's making the lives of millions of Japanese women miserable, but no-one is saying much about it. In Africa it's more noticable because there is/has been quite a lot of war and conflict going on. During and after WWII rape was prevalent in parts of Europe. I certainly agree it is not unique to Africa. |
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