We want peace
That Russian soldiers control and
threaten the population in the occupied territories of Ukraine is bad, but in a
war, we expect bad things. The people who live every day with the risk of being
arrested, tortured, shot, raped, or abducted are terrified. Those who flee risk in feeling the very things they are fleeing from. Such traumas will
accompany them throughout their lives.
I have read many books about the
fates of people during the Second World War. Some of it I could hardly bear,
but it was about experiences that happened a long time ago. Surely such things
cannot happen today? Here in Europe? We have learned that violence and wars do
not solve problems, but create new ones. And then came February 24, 2022, and
proved the opposite. Since then, everything is revolving around the war in Ukraine
and the senseless and brutal destruction of human lives and infrastructure.
Because we have lived in peace in
Europe for more than 75 years, we have banned thoughts of war. We have closed
our eyes to wars. Oh yes, there was the Balkan war and in Bosnia, they fought
for Sarajevo for 4 years. Now they are building musical instruments out of
scrapped missiles and trying to cope with their traumas. And then there was
Srebrenica and the many raped women. How are they now? It was so long ago. What
about the children that were conceived in the process?
Then we look a little further south.
The genocide in Rwanda and Burundi was even worse. Why did the world stand by
and do nothing? How could people kill each other just because they belong to a
different tribe? We who observed this from a distance can hardly believe it.
But how might those who survived the massacres feel? How can people experience
reconciliation with each other after such a tragedy? It is the women of Rwanda
who have taken the reconciliation into their own hands.
For twenty years, the eastern part
of the Democratic Republic of Congo has not experienced peace. We hardly hear
anything about the conflicts that flare up there again and again. Marauding
rebel gangs roam the jungles attacking civilians, murdering, raping, and
robbing. Dr. Denis Mukwege's new book, The
Power of Women: A doctor's journey of hope and healing is an urgent appeal from the Nobel Peace Prize winner to
stop condoning sexual violence. In it, he describes how women, despite
everything they experience, do not give up. Only when we read such reports
describing the atrocities do we understand how terrible the situation is in war
zones, especially for women and children.
Other conflicts in the world could
be mentioned, where similar, terrible things happen. Now the attack on Ukraine
has brought everything closer to us. The war crimes committed against humanity have
shaken us. It does not help if we close our eyes to the horror. We must break
our silence and stand up for the weak. The violence must end. Not just violence
against women and children, but all victims of violence.
Today is a 25th day of the month. I
wear orange in my clothing to make a statement against violence. On Thursdays, I should wear
black to make a statement against rape as a weapon of war
(https://www.die-kongo-kampagne.de/de/). Soon every color of the rainbow in
clothing will have some meaning and cause to advocate for. I don't know if it
will do any good. I feel so helpless because there is nothing I can do to stop
the horrible things that are happening in the world. I support the enditnow®
initiative and want violence to end now. If it were up to us women, there would
be no wars. The world indeed needs a feminist foreign policy that leads to
peace.
In October 2021 Janine di Giovanni,
an FP global affairs columnist, wrote:
“In Aristophanes’s
fifth-century B.C. comedy Lysistrata, the women of ancient Athens and Sparta
discover an ingenious way of ending the war between the two city-states. They
withhold sex from their menfolk until the warriors cease fighting and sit down
to settle terms. It’s possibly the most original and effective peace process
ever devised.
“While Aristophanes’s
method might not work for ending modern wars, such as those still raging in
Syria and Ethiopia’s Tigray region, the general concept still holds: Women
often have unique skills and power when they negotiate or sit down at the table
to end conflicts. Yet why are so few women involved in peace processes as
negotiators, mediators, community organizers, or facilitators of so-called
Track 2 dialogues—far fewer than in many other areas of politics and policy? Why
are questions of war and peace still left almost entirely to men?”[1]
Women, peace, and security are
topics that are discussed over and over again, and yet we see few women in
leading positions when it comes to peace negotiations. Where they are involved,
peace is sustained longer.
"Gaining more
diverse input in peace processes can only have positive results. After all,
women are usually not the combatants but the ones picking up the pieces of a
broken society. They know what needs to be done. They know how to heal and how
to patch together broken people." [2]
Who will reunite and heal families
in Ukraine? Who will make sure that what was destroyed is rebuilt? In Germany,
it was the rubble women who made sure that life could go on after the
destruction of war. In Congo, it is the women who do not give up, who fight for
peace and rebuild the destroyed villages. Women know how hard it all is and
yet they do it. Women are strong. In Ukraine, too, much will depend on women
holding society together. We should listen to them and stand with them for
peace and an end to all violence.
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