Challenging the Silence: Media against sexual violence
The Hague, December 10th. 2007

Our bodies, as women, have become a battlefield. This is neither new, nor exclusive of countries in the South. In Japan, former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo...thousands of women have suffered sexual crimes and reported them.

But if women speak up, why do we call our campaign “Challenging the Silence”? What silence are we talking about? We are talking about the silence in the public domain. Silence on what has been defined by the International Criminal Court, based near here, as a crime of war and a crime against humanity: the sexual violence against women.

Sexual violence is related to a patriarchal society. A society based on unequal relations between the two sexes and where men have power over women. But this is not only a women’s problem, its consequences affect the whole society. It is an issue of social responsibility, security and public health. The concept gender justice means ending the inequalities between women and men that result in women's subordination to men. Gender justice also means the end of impunity for sexual crimes.

Equal access to justice and compensation for both women and men are imperative conditions to build an equitable and peaceful society. When justice is not done, situations arise like what happens in the DRC right now, where impunity is increasing. And where somebody like general Laurent Nkunda states in the media that what his men do to women is not his business. This despite the presence of the biggest UN mission worldwide. Madame Namegabe will tell us more about this. 

Neither local authorities nor the international community seem to prioritise the fight against sexual crimes in their agendas. Resulting in thousands of women without access to justice and compensation, so, without being able to exercise their rights as citizens.

A positive signal of change is the recent statement of the Dutch Minister of Development Cooperation, Mr. Koenders, who said: “We have to stop impunity. The violations of women's human rights require the immediate attention of organisations like the International Criminal Court and other relevant tribunals.”

Worldcom Foundation and Lolamora Productions work with media to end the information gap on this issue and to disseminate women’s claims.

In our view, media can help ending impunity and anonymity. This can be done by naming, shaming and blaming the criminals, praising those who make positive steps and monitoring governments in the implementation of the laws. Media could work together with civil society in a monitoring network documenting cases, identifying the perpetrators and following up those institutions that are supposed to provide justice.

The numbers of victims of sexual violence are shocking, this is a collective shame. There are no excuses, no arguments, to justify the silence, the impunity and the lack of compensation for victims.

Finally, on behalf of Worldcom Foundation and Lolamora Producciones I would like to thank to all the people who have supported this project; especially those sitting on this table.