Eastern Congo: "The rape capital of the world"

Hillary Clinton, U.S. Secretary of State, stopped in Kinshasa, Congo Monday as part of her African tour to "push the Congolese government and the United Nations to end the longstanding bloodshed here, taking special aim at the illicit mineral trade that helps fuel the conflict."

Many people, including myself, don't fully understand the roots of this long-standing, deadly war. But its pretty clear that one of the main causes is the Congo's vast amount of natural resources, which have created an enormous amount of wealth, for some... emphasis on "some." Along with this, of course, comes a vast amount of corruption.

Even if you don't have time to read the entire NY Times article, "Clinton Presses Congo on Minerals", take a glance at some relevant facts:

- "Illegal mining was one of the root causes of Congo’s violence"

- "The fighting and its fallout — mass displacement, hunger and disease — have claimed millions of lives in the past decade."

- "The United Nations calls eastern Congo the rape capital of the world because hundreds of thousands of women have been sexually assaulted by the various militias haunting the hills." (Increasingly, men are also being raped)

- "Women are being turned into weapons of war" (this isn't new... The United Nations estimates that about 3500 women have been raped since the beginning of the year and 200,000 women and girls have been raped in Congo over the last 12 years)

- "Nearly two out of every three rapes were carried out against children, most of them adolescent girls" (Source: Human Rights Watch)

On a sidenote, I like that former NBA basketball star, Dikembe Mutombo, has given much back to his homeland, having built a hospital and research center with his own money in his hometown, and capitol, Kinshasa.

Hopefully you'll read the article. I'm glad the U.S. considers it an important enough place for our Secretary of State to pay a visit (I try not to question motives). And hopefully something good will come of it and people will start to pay a bit more attention to what is happening here.

If you prefer videos, here's a video summary of her visit: