One threat too many: Where do we go from here?

One threat too many: Where do we go from here?

An email threat against one of our writers coincides with the Nobel Women’s Initiative’s launch of a new campaign to stop rape and gender violence in war. But the confluence of this, World Press Freedom Day, and a series of angry actions against women pushes Women Under Siege Director Lauren Wolfe to ask: “How can I say we are not, as a people, failing each other?” Read More »
Afghan women face horrors for ‘moral crimes’

Afghan women face horrors for ‘moral crimes’

More than 10 years since the ouster of the Taliban, women in much of Afghanistan are still enduring a kind of twisted criminalization in which laws and social norms blame them for being victimized. Yet many Afghans view the current conditions as an improvement—even if they are some of the worst in the world for women. By Josh Shahryar. Photo at left by Monique Jaques. Read More »
License to rape: How Burma’s military employs systematic sexualized violence

License to rape: How Burma’s military employs systematic sexualized violence

The Burmese military is perpetrating a clear pattern of sexualized violence against women in Burma’s ethnic groups. And while the government has been paying lip service to reform, but it’s impossible to take seriously when impunity for rape by the military is a constitutional guarantee. Read More »
Imagine what it would mean to track rape in conflict in real time. We’re doing it in Syria.

Imagine what it would mean to track rape in conflict in real time. We’re doing it in Syria.

Our mission is to show the world that each woman raped has been illegally brutalized against her will. We aim to show that this woman, wherever she is, matters. As part of this, we’re trying something new: telling individual stories from Syria as they happen. Literally putting these stories on the map,WomenUnderSiegeSyria.crowdmap.com is a whole new way to trace rape in war. Read More »

Blog

Not natural, not forever: How we’re trying to end rape in war

By Women Under Siege — May 15, 2012
That rape is used as an actual strategy and weapon of war goes unnoticed much of the time by the media, which tends to focus on the explosions and traumas you can show in photos or film footage. But Janis Mackey Frayer, South Asia bureau chief of CTV News, has brought this subject to her readers in a two-part series that focuses on the work of Women Under Siege. more »
Why is stopping gender violence a ‘women’s issue’?

Why is stopping gender violence a ‘women’s issue’?

By Laura*/Guest Blogger — May 13, 2012
The Violence Against Women Act is causing contention as it comes to Congress for the third time for reauthorization. Democrats want to extend the act, first approved in 1994, to provide protection to Native American women, victims in same-sex relationships, and undocumented immigrants—some of the country’s most vulnerable populations. But Republicans have accused Democrats of deliberately including these “controversial” issues in an attempt to lure them into blocking the bill. more »

One threat too many: Where do we go from here?

By Lauren Wolfe/Director — May 8, 2012
I’m sitting in Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris having just opened an email from one of Women Under Siege’s writers. She’d sent me a copy of a threat she’d received that scattered chills up my arms and down my legs. The sender said he was coming for her; he’d kill her, that “little bitch.” more »
Who Is Congo?

Who Is Congo?

By Rachel Halder/Intern — May 1, 2012
We know that victims of wartime rape are not just victims, or even survivors. They are mothers, fathers, children, grandparents, teachers, advocates, cooks, helpers, and dreamers. A new video series about Congo offers a fuller story of the country and its people than what we usually see. more »

Going down the rabbit hole: Cara Hoffman interviews Women Under Siege Director Lauren Wolfe

By Cara Hoffman/Guest Blogger — April 27, 2012
What can women do right now to get involved in ending violence against women? How do you deal with feelings of discouragement and anger in this work? Cara Hoffman, author of So Much Pretty (Simon & Schuster) speaks with Women Under Siege Director Lauren Wolfe about this and more. more »

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