Intended Consequences
Check out Jonathan Torgovnik's amazing collection of photographs of the children of rape victims in the Congo. I became aware of his work because of a devastating photo essay in this month's Mother Jones Magazine, which you should all check out if you get a chance (it's not available online).
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these photos are beautiful, haunting, and sad. thanks for sharing.
Here is the video piece that accompanies his photos. http://mediastorm.org/0024.htm
I can't begin to imagine the heartache these women and children have experienced. Thank you for sharing these photos and bringing light to this issue.
In the small amount of research I have done about this conflict and the women survivors, their stories are very interesting and heartbreaking. There is a documentary called "War Babies" which portrays the stories of children born out of rape from the conflicts in Bosnia, Rwanda and other wars. They talk about how their mothers, as well as themselves, came to terms with how their existence came about. The child is a constant reminder of the atrocities these women edured. The sadness and anger that the mothers feel add to the guilt, remorse and shame of their children, yet for many mothers, it is the only children they have left after their others were killed in the genocide. This truly shows the lasting effects of war and how differently women and children are effected by conflict.
This collection was used in tandem with the group, Foundation Rwanda. http://www.foundationrwanda.org/
It's mission is to send the children born of rape to school and provide counseling for the families. There are more photos and testimonies to be found on their website.
Courtney, I think you meant to write Rwanda instead of the Congo...
although I know there is a lot of this going on in the Congo right now http://thegreatestsilence.org/
Courtney,
Thank you for posting this. Not to be nitpicky, but would you mind referring to women who have lived through rape as "rape survivors" rather than "rape victims"?
I can feel what you are getting at. The only issue I have with trying to decide a label is the lack of input from the victims/survivors in question. It is a personal choice, and unless the choice is known for certain, the two terms can be used interchangeably. Some rape victims choose that term because they are still hurting and still feel like victims, not survivors.
I'm sorry, I'm rambling. This could be its own post. Basically, I see nothing wrong with the use of the term "rape victim" and feel that it is appropriate for this post.
There's something about the word "survival" to me that makes me feel like I'm the victim of a natural disaster - Hurricane Nonconsensual - moreso than a shitty dude.
But then, I don't find "victim" personally disempowering - I know some do. To me, a victim is someone who suffered something against their will, and a survivor is someone who lived through a threatening and damaging situation. Lots of people are both.
Anyway, I can't imagine being a victim *or* survivor of what those women and kids have gone through. Just fucking awful.
The photos are so haunting - they grab you right away...
(BTW, the photo essay will be available on the website soon...)
Yeah, I think these are from Rwanda...