“You’re using YouTube to track rape in Syria? And Twitter?”

I am asked this question on a frequent basis. As a student the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, I take classes to understand the methodological and statistical decisions that are involved in conducting rigorous scientific research. One thing that is not often taught – at least not yet – is how to use social media to do epidemiology. But, when the opportunity presented itself a year ago to begin working with the Women’s Media Center’s Women Under Siege project, I knew it was important to be a part of this initiative.

WMC’s Women Under Siege is using a crowd-sourced map to report sexualized violence related to the Syrian conflict—this is the first time this has ever been done. The work is a collaboration between the Women’s Media Center, Columbia University, the Syrian-American Medical Society, and Syrian activists and journalists. In past conflicts, such as Rwanda or Bosnia, attempts were made to report sexualized violence after the fact. This results in serious under-reporting, however: sexualized violence happens within the context of other war crimes—which may result in the victim’s death, seeking refuge in other countries, or silence due to shame and stigmatization. Tracking sexualized violence in Syria in real time allows us to not only gather stories that may otherwise be lost, but also gives us a better understanding of who is suffering so humanitarian efforts can know where to provide assistance.

Our documentation also has the potential to be used toward evidence gathering if there are ever going to be war crimes trials for atrocities being committed in Syria.

Since launching in March 2012, we have collected, mapped, and analyzed 162 reports of sexualized violence. An article published in The Atlantic last Wednesday lists the most recent statistics from our research: 80 percent of the reports specify female victims, and among those women, 85 percent report being raped. Forty percent of women are raped by multiple attackers, sometimes in cases where the Syrian army works together with shabiha – plainclothes militia forces – to rape the women. Women who survive their attack (almost 18 percent of the female victims in our reports are killed by their attackers or commit suicide after their rape) face additional consequences, including pregnancy (3 percent of reports), chronic physical disease (2 percent), and anxiety or PTSD (10 percent).

We are also showing that sexualized violence is also being perpetrated upon men. Among males in our reports, almost 47 percent report being raped, which is usually used as a form of torture within Syrian detention centers. In this report, a man describes how dozens of government soldiers invaded his home and forced him to watch as they gang-raped his wife and daughters before raping him. “The men were jeering and said, ‘Look at your father.’ They destroyed me,” he said.

As student-activists, we know the power of social media. It enables us to connect, share information, and create change. We are changing the way people are talking about rape in Syria, and we are showing that social media is an important tool in this research. Already, the White House, the U.S. State Department, the U.K. Foreign Office, and the United Nations have all asked to hear more about our research. We’ve seen our map covered in global media, from The Washington Post to CNN International to the BBC.

Getting the message out is a huge step toward showing women and men violated that we are bearing witness to their pain. That they are not forgotten. That the world cares about them. Not only that, but it provides a public accounting of otherwise unimaginable human rights violations.

As one woman from Homs, Syria, states in a video on YouTube after telling the terrible details of her rape, “I might not be the first one nor the last one who was treated in this way.”

Her message is clear:

“Let all the world hear what is happening to us.”

In preparation for Valentine’s Day 2013, members of the STAND chapter at the University of Southern California spent their afternoon making valentines with a slightly different message than that of the classic Hallmark card. Members created valentines for President Obama, urging him to support peace talks in Kampala and to stand in solidarity with Congolese women who have been victims of gender-based violence.

Thus far in the Congo, peace talks have been unsuccessful and are in danger of being abandoned if a neutral international body does not step up to facilitate. The valentine messages asked Obama to appoint a presidential envoy to assist with these peace talks and to help ensure that they remain productive and transparent, one of the necessary steps in resolving this conflict.

STAND members decorated valentines with hearts and emphasized key points such as the fact that the Democratic Republic of Congo is currently the most dangerous place in the world to be a woman. Asking the President to open his heart, one member wrote, “The rape and terrorism that is taking place in the Congo is too great to be set aside. As our leader, please stand up for peace and freedom.”

In addition to creating colorful valentines with powerful messages, USC STAND did an action on campus in order to raise awareness among the student body of the atrocities occurring in the Congo. Students at USC often advertise events on a walkway surrounded by student residences by taping large block letters to the ground with information about the event. The night before Valentine’s Day, STAND members met outside to advertise their own message. Using a large role of pink tape, they constructed a giant heart with the message “STAND UP 4 CONGO” at the center. At the bottom of the heart, they wrote @cfcistudents so that students could look up the Conflict Free Campus Initiative’s Twitter account should they want more information on the ongoing conflict and the student campaign to alleviate it.

This semester, USC STAND’s focus is on educating the community and generating support for the campaign to make USC a conflict-free campus. STAND hopes to continue generating awareness about the conflict in the Congo as they begin to pressure the university administration to consider the institution’s role as a consumer and investor in this conflict.

United Nations Economic and Social Council (UNECOSOC) president Nestor Osorio will announce a compromise this week by which Sudan will not head the humanitarian segment at the council, as previously planned, and instead take on a different role. The Sudanese government has paid $516,085 to the United Nations to reinstate its voting rights after being suspended over the accumulation of financial arrears.

Israel deported at least 1,000 Sudanese refugees to North Sudan without informing the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and despite the fact that “[Sudan] has vowed to punish any of its citizens who ever set foot in Israel.” Government doctors amputated a man’s right hand and left foot by court order in Khartoum on February 14, 2013, in violation of the absolute prohibition on torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading punishments, four human rights groups said Wednesday.

Renewed clashes in North Darfur between Abbala and Beni Hussein tribesmen have “highlighted once more the vulnerability of civilians in the area” killing 50 people in the past week. Meanwhile, those who fled their homes due to last month’s hostilities between the tribes are still living under trees, by creeks or in the outskirts of the town. The UN estimates that 100,000 people were displaced in connection with the clashes over control of a gold mine in Jebel Amer on 5 January. They stated this is the largest forced displacement in Darfur in years.

Members of the Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM) that signed the Doha peace agreement with the government of Sudan clashed with pro-government militias at a market in North Darfur.

Also, the military spokesman of the Sudan Liberation Movement-Abdel Wahid (SLM-AW) disclosed that 23 children died of diarrhea after drinking water polluted by toxic bombs following last week’s bombings in South Jebel Marra, Central Darfur.

Crimes against humanity have been taking place in Darfur for the past ten years. Join STAND and our partner organizations in calling on Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the UNSC, and the African Union to bring relief, peace, and justice to Darfur by visiting http://www.darfur10.com/.

South Sudan

A child protection survey was launched in Unity State in South Sudan. The state’s minister for gender, child welfare and social development, Lubna Abdelgani, said Tuesday that the issue of girl’s being forced to marry before they are of a mature age needs to addressed. The survey will take place in all 10 South Sudanese states. Voices of America published an article on GBV in South Sudan.  The article explains the violence faced by women including rape and beatings, the lack of choice they have in terms of choosing husbands, and their lack of rights and capacities to seek redress for their grievances.

The deputy speaker of South Sudan’s parliament has backed calls for the young nation toadopt a leaner more efficient government that would better able to provide the services needed by the population.

Syria

On Tuesday, fighting intensified near the historic Umayyad Mosque in the Old City of Aleppo. Clashes also erupted near a police academy that has become a government military base west of Aleppo. Increased fighting in southern Syria as well has led to a surge in refugees fleeing across the border to Jordan. In the past few days, about 3,000 Syrians have fled to Jordan per night. Syrian activist groups have been working to collect evidence of human rights abuses as the conflict continues. These groups met in Turkey in January where they launched the National Preparatory Committee for Transitional Justice. The Committee is collecting all dates and information available from all Syrian activist groups.

Syrian rebels have agreed to meet with US Secretary of State John Kerry at the international “Friends of Syria” meeting in Rome after initially rebuffing the offer.  The shift in rebel stance comes in light of a pledge from Secretary Kerry to increase non-lethal support for the rebels. While assistance so far has been limited to communications and logistical support, it may be magnified to include meals and medical supplies. The rebels have also refused an offer from the Assad regime to meet for talks. Free Syrian Army’s (FSA) Chief of Staff Selim Idriss stated the FSA would not meet with Assad until “all the killing stops, or before the army withdraws from the cities”. The Assad regime has agreed to renew passports of Syrian citizens overseas, one of two conditions put forward last month by opposition leader Moaz al-Khatib to meet with the Assad regimes for talks.

In an apparent change in policy, Saudi Arabia has begun supplying rebels with armspurchased in Croatia. These arms began arriving to Syria in December in shipments sent through Jordan. The arms may have contributed to rebel gains this past winter. On Wednesday, Iraqi minister Hadi al-Amiri declared that Turkish and Qatari support for “al Qaeda (in Syria) . . . is a declaration of armed action against Iraq.” Al-Amiri is the transport minister and the head of the formerly armed militant group Badr Organization. Sectarian tensions have been rising in Iraq, especially in the Sunni stronghold of Anbar bordering Syria, where protests have recently been staged against the Shi’ite-led government and al-Qaeda linked militants appear to be regrouping.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Ahead of last weekend’s peace talks in Addis Ababa, the UN urged the UNSC to authorize an additional military brigade force within the current peacekeeping forces to respond to the unstable security situations caused by violence in Katanga and the Kivus. In Katanga province in the southeast of the country, approximately 316,000 people have been displaced by the activities of Mayi Mayi leader Gédéon.

A peace agreement was finally signed by regional governments on Sunday, February 24,including Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, DRC, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. Rwanda President Paul Kagame welcomed the agreement, which he says has been a collaborative regional effort, addresses multi-faceted root causes, and will serve not as an end result of a peace process, but as a step in the right direction. A group of prominent Congolese and international NGOs welcomed the agreement, but support additional measures, including the appointment of a high-profile UN Special Envoy to mediate on a domestic and regional level, the inclusion of Congolese civil society and Congo’s donor partners in oversight mechanisms, and the tying of donor aid to benchmarks and collaboration between government, donors, and civil society.

Ugandan forces have deployed on the DRC-Uganda border following renewed fighting between Mai Mai rebels and M23 rebels in Nyamirima. The two groups are fighting for control of the borderline, which the Mai Mai claims to be their ancestral land. Large numbers of Congolese continue to flee their homes and seek refuge in Uganda.

Yesterday, MONUSCO reported heavy fighting near its base in North Kivu between Congolese armed forces and elements of the Alliance des Patriotes pour un Congo Libre et Souverain (APCLS). At least one civilian was killed and nine others injured, including one of MONUSCO’s peacekeepers. A decision on further UN troops is expected after Ban Ki-moon briefs the Council on recent developments related to the DRC, including the signing of the peace agreement.

Burma

Fearing greater conflict in Kachin State, China has been conducting military exercises in neighboring Yunnan Province to bolster border security. Although the military exercises happen each year, Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua described the military exercises in Yunnan as training for “real combat to increase their capacity to control the border.” China is due to host peace talks in the town of Ruili next month between the Myanmar military and Kachin Independence Army to bring about an end to the conflict, which has displaced more than 100,000 people.

In other news, on Friday, February 22, the United States “relaxed” sanctions on four large Burmese banks as a reward for the country’s recent democratic reforms.

Warning: Some of the content below may be triggering.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Sexual and gender-based violence is endemic in the DRC, though numbers are hard to come by because of the social stigma if being associated with sexual violence and the acquiescence of many to domestic violence. Many issues remain in cases of sexual assault–most alleged perpetrators are released directly after their court hearing and those imprisoned can escape or bribe their way out. With this in mind, there are few incentives for women to report cases of sexual violence. There have been numerous reports about sexual and gender-based violence in the DRC, results differing from report to report. Melanie Teff takes a look into issues with collecting data, and stresses that solutions to sexual violence must be addressed within a strategy that addresses wider issues of violence against women and issues of gender inequality in the country.

Reports of sexual violence abound in reports from camps around the Goma area following violence between government forces and M23 rebels. As we often see in Darfuri refugee and IDP camps, security for women seeking firewood or food is very low, and often leads to sexual attacks. Even within the camp, security is an issue. “Violence is omnipresent,”said MSF psychologist Marie Jacob. “It is a violence based on power, the law of the strongest, the law of the person with a weapon.”

Though the data varies, one thing is for sure–sexual violence is a huge issue in the country, and has become a day-to-day occurrence for many women (and also a number of boys and men). As Congolese women take a stand against sexual violence, we must listen to their stories, hopes, and dreams, as they work to create the communities that they envision for themselves.

Burma

“Rape is used in my country as a weapon against those who only want to live in peace, who only want to assert their basic human rights, especially in the areas of the ethnic nationalities. Rape is rife. It is used as a weapon by the armed forces to intimidate the ethnic nationalities and to divide our country.”

—Nobel Laureate and Opposition Leader Aung San Suu Kyi

Many conflicts in Burma, both past and present, are sharply divided between ethnic lines, with rape being an all too common weapon of choice, particularly for the Myanmar military. Not only does rape perpetuate these ethnic divides, it unfairly places innocent civilians in harm’s way and gives them injuries that can last a lifetime. More recently, rape has been an all too common element of the country’s recent conflicts in Rakhine and Kachin States. In fact, the the conflict in Rakhine State was initially triggered by an alleged rape-murder of a Rakhine woman by several Rohingya men.

In addition, Burma’s new constitution, which transitioned the country from a military dictatorship to a quasi-civilian democracy in 2010, offers no legal ramifications for perpetrators of sexual violence. Myanmar’s military is placed outside the jurisdiction of civilian courts, and the constitution grants full amnesty for rape and other war crimes committed by the military. This directly violates international law and offers no justice for the victims.

Syria

Rape has become so widespread as a weapon of war in Syria that refugee families in Lebanon and Jordan are now citing it as their primary reason for fleeing the conflictaccording to a recent report by the International Rescue Committee (IRC). These rapes sometimes involve multiple attackers and often occur in front of family members. Cases involving kidnapping, rape, torture, and finally murder have also been reported. Unfortunately, stigma surrounding rape makes it difficult for survivors to report these incidents. The IRC report revealed that survivors fear retribution from attackers, being murdered out of shame by family members, and being married off prematurely to safeguard the honor of young female victims.

The work of the Women Under Siege project has helped make information on sexual and gender based violence in Syria more available despite these stigmas. The project documents cases of rape as they occur using crowdsourcing. The data collected by this project is collected into a “crowdmap”, displaying incidents of sexual violence as dots on the map proportional to the amount of reports emerging from those areas. The reports collected by the Women Under Siege project are sent to public health researchers at Columbia University to be analyzed. These researchers have of course confirmed the widespread nature of rape as a weapon of war in Syria. They have also noted that victims of sexual violence have been male as well as female.

The IRC report recommends “[addressing] violence against Syrian women and girls”through increasing funding to programs that “prevent and respond to violence against women and girls, inside and outside of camps” through “clinical care and emotional support for survivors, improving safety in camps, minimizing survival sex, forced marriage, and domestic violence and providing economic aid so that women do not revert to exploitative jobs”. The horrifically widespread nature of sexualized violence against women in Syria and stigmas associated with female rape victims make a focus on treating women extremely important.

At the same time, it is important not to support or create any stigmas about male rape and sexual violence victims. While male victims are unlikely to find the same stigmatic problems of honor killings or premature marriages, we should avoid adding to any inner feelings of shame or barriers to access that will stop male victims from seeking treatment. Some of the recommendations for female victims, such as making clinical care and emotional support more easily available, should be applied to male victims as well.

Sudan

In Darfur, sexual violence takes place as women flee their homes and villages, within IDP camps and within the home. Women have been raped and attacked when going out to fetch firewood, find grass or straw to sell, build homes, or farm and mill. As conflict has continued over the years, there have been increased reports of violence inside the IDP camps, including domestic violence and women’s involvement in high risk activities.

Beyond SGBV, women are severely discriminated against within the social institutions of Sudan.  The country ranks 85 out of 86 in the 2012 Social Institutions and Gender Index.

South Sudan

The United States Institute of Peace writes of the importance of South Sudan’s incorporation of women in the young South Sudanese government and gives advice on how to target women’s issues. It recommends that the government of South Sudan, with the support of regional partners and the international community, should ensure that gender equality and women’s rights are fully integrated into and are outcomes of state building. National planning, developing the permanent constitution, and building the country’s new institutions and structures should reflect commitments to gender equality and input from women and women’s groups across South Sudan. The government should cost and meet the full budgetary needs of the Ministry of Gender, Child, and Welfare; ratify and implement the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa; strengthen efforts to prevent SGBV and address the needs of SGBV victims and survivors; and invest more in quality and accessible health and education.

In addition, USIP calls for the inclusion of women in all implementation bodies of the new cooperation deal on security, wealth sharing, and logistical issues, including citizenship and cross-border travel. Women are the most significantly impacted by the deal because they are the least legally protected by the government, and they need the most support due to their role in the family, so it is important to link women’s civil society organizations with implementation bodies as well.  Furthermore, efforts must include men so that the entire community can work together equally to achieve their common goals.

Lastly, USIP recommends that donors leverage their roles to promote the meaningful inclusion of women by stipulating that their funds be used in a way that specifically targets the inclusion, transportation, and protection of women in Sudan.

Gender based violence, human trafficking, rape as a weapon of war… All of these terms are internationally recognized euphemisms that belie the horrible situations they represent.

Gender based violence is a term commonly associated with the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. A mineral rich region, with a wealth of natural resources that are used in our technology, the DRC has been mired in conflict amongst various factions since 1996 when an influx of rebel forces from neighboring countries began waging what some call Africa’s World War, especially coming from Rwanda in the eastern region following the 1994 genocide. In the midst of the fighting, rebel forces and army groups have been known to violate human rights of local communities, and shocking numbers of civilian women have been raped by militants or taken as sex slaves for militia groups. Rape is used as a means of inducing fear and control, and women who are raped are often stigmatized and blamed for their attack.

A little closer to home, another group of stigmatized individuals feels the effects of what is so pristinely termed “gender based violence.” Domestic sex trafficking, one component of human trafficking, involves the manipulation of individuals into forced prostitution. In order to be considered trafficking there must be evidence of force, fraud or coercion or the victim must be under that age of 18. The Trafficking Victims Protection Act, the United States legislation which focuses on human trafficking allows access to services for foreign victims, but does not help domestic victims who are seen as already having access to the system. Survivors of domestic sex trafficking are often charged for prostitution and few lawyers want to take their cases in court, as survivors are often scared to provide evidence against their traffickers due to trauma and threats of harm to family members or others. There is a lack of statistical information regarding the number of domestic victims of trafficking, and there are extremely low prosecution rates. Debates about prostitution and cultural conceptions which blame the victim, rather than buyers and pimps, continue to detract from greater responses and awareness of the manipulation and trauma involved in these cases.

Whether continents away in the DRC, or here on American soil, these individuals are often subjected to repeated sexual abuse. It may be multiple armed militia members, or it may be repeated rape used to break a girl who is then forced to have sex with men every day to meet an ever-increasing quota. Are we willing to live in a world that allows these abuses to continue?

This Valentine’s Day, as we are bombarded with imagery of happy couples buying jewelry, flowers, and chocolate we should all take a moment to reflect on these survivors of gender based violence. Various activist organizations, paired with the One Billion Rising campaign are all working to raise awareness of the issue of gender based violence across the globe. The campaign states that one in three women will be raped or beaten in her lifetime, to combat this statistic they would like to have one billion women rise up this Valentine’s Day and work to raise awareness about the issue through an unexpected medium- dance. They would like to see us all go out and transform public spaces into a dance party or host events to raise awareness.

Whether we all go out to dance in solidarity or not, it is important to take a moment to reflect on the issue of gender based violence in order to combat the stigma, apathy and everyday forgetting which prevent system-wide change to take place. Rather than letting ourselves be caught up in euphemisms and distancing ourselves from the issue, let us take a moment to realize that we are all connected and we can all play a part in promoting change.

Carly Fabian is a participant in STAND’s Guide to Navigating the Blogosphere. Interested in getting lessons on best practices for blogging and writing on conflict and mass atrocities prevention issues? Join the program! The program is intended to train students to effectively express their own views on international human rights issues; consequently, the views expressed in Blogging Bootcamp posts are those of the participants and do not necessarily reflect official STAND policy stances.

Trigger Warning: this content discusses violent sexual assault.

Last Thursday, the United States recognized the government of Somalia after twenty years of violent anarchy. A new Somali administration took over last year, marking the transition from a temporary government to a government that is supposed to be both stable and permanent. The African Union, allied with government, Ethiopian soldiers, and contracted soldiers, has been slowly taking back land and important towns from the terrorist group, al Shabab, that has ravaged the country in recent years. Hillary Clinton, after speaking to the Somali president, said that this was a “milestone.” But despite the Somali government’s advances, it has failed to appropriately respond to the serious problem of sexual violence against women in it’s war-torn regions. The government cannot command the loyalty and respect of it’s people if it does not fully protect half of its population, particularly from its own military. The state has a responsibility to protect its citizens, particularly those in war zones, from endemic violence. If the new Somali government is to be viewed as the legitimate representative of its people it must fulfill this responsibility.

Years of fighting have left most women as the sole caretakers of their families, leaving them without protection in IDP camps that are often controlled by Shabab militants. Women who venture out, either on a journey to another IDP camp or just to the bathroom, are vulnerable to attack. And the Shabab, lacking money and supplies, have been paying soldiers with “temporary wives,” abducted young girls who are given to the soldiers for several weeks in the place of payment. The girls are often as young as twelve, and if they refuse, they are given two options: death by bullet or death by stoning.

Only days after the US recognized the Somali government, a new rape case involving the government made international headlines. A rape-victim contacted an Al Jazeera reporter and told the reporter that a group of men in government uniforms had gang-raped her. This is not a rare case in the fact that the woman was attacked or in the fact that it was by men affiliated with the government, but rather in the way of the government’s response. Rather than investigating her claim, the government placed a Somali journalist connected with the story in jail, and began a campaign of harassment aimed at the rape victim as well as anyone who was thought to be aiding her.

Sister Somalia, a sexual violence crisis center, is now fearing not only intimidation by the government, but also that this incident will make victims of sexual violence more afraid than ever to come forward. Sister Somalia has worked for years to encourage women, who already harbored rational fears of retribution, rejection, and violence for speaking out, into treatment and rehabilitation. But they fear that their progress might be set back by renewed government intimidation.

The next few months will determine the seriousness of the new American involvement in Somalia. The US should remember that despite Somalia’s advancements, its treatment of women should be a reason why aid cannot be given free of requirements, but instead must be given in return for greater advancement and protection of women and young girls. By ignoring and even attempting to silence the plight of women and young girls within its borders, the new Somali government will lose legitimacy both internationally and internally. While US recognition offers great financial assistance to the governments and economies of struggling countries, the US should also use its leverage as a major donor nation to ensure that the new Somali government fulfills its obligation to control its armed forces and protect IDP camp residents from harm.