When there is war in a country, in most cases the government in that country cannot protect its own people, which leads to sporadic abuse of human rights. Those worst affected are normally women and children.
In many countries in Africa, UN peace-keepers are deployed to protect civilians. However, this is not usually the case. Reuters reported that UN peace-keepers have been investigated for raping women in Congo and other war-torn countries. I just wonder, United Nations is such a high profile intergovernmental organisation, but such cases of sexual abuse do not seem to be tarnishing their reputation. Is this a classic example of an organisation that has built a solid foundation on its reputation and gained public trust such that misconduct of its workers does not affect its image? Or is this a case of importance of the subject matter, that raping women in Congo or other developing countries do not constitute enough buzz for international outcry and media attention.
If Paris Hilton was going to the Congo, surely there would be enough media coverage on her. 100 women being raped is not much of a
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Wow, I had heard about some incidents involving the UN peacekeepers but I had no idea there was 100 cases. It is quite shocking that this has not received more publicity, it is almost similar to the case we discussed this week about the rugby players. It seems that because these people are supposed to be respected due to their position that it is easy for them to abuse their privaleges without much reprecussion for their actions. It is a sad state of affairs.
ReplyDeleteThat is shocking there was not media coverage on this terrible event! It is so interesting what does and does not make it into mainstream media. Sometime you have to wonder.
ReplyDeleteThere has been media coverage on it, but you have to search for it. I guess the reason why many people are not aware about these incidents is because.
ReplyDelete1. this is not information that would be deemed as important to the global community
2. It is an ongoing problem thus has lost its importance even though the acts or atrocity are grave.
Kelly, this is over several counties over a period of time, the number goes beyond 100. I am being kind. There is definitely abuse of power in this case or using power and money to take advantage of these poor women and like ROumen said in class, the resource poor rarely get media attention. If something happened to Donald Trump, say he broke a leg on a skiing trip, it would be all over the news, but say a few women were wrongly prosecuted, in a poor part of the world, who cares! It happens all the time.
ReplyDeleteMercy, i just want to cry reading this post. it is really terrible how women seem to be the ultimate victims *sob*
ReplyDeleteYeah, i wonder why this such really important issue don't really attract people's attention. i have heard that a lot of women being raped in Darfur conflict and war on Middle East. not only to women but also to men. they are the sexual object being used by the soldiers.
but, yeah. it's about selling eyeballs. media production tries continually to sell what the audience is interested in. i think the government as the one who impose regulation should take this into account.