Katie Lootens's Page

Why should we care about this crisis? Because by some estimates one out of every four women in the Kivu province have been sexually abused or raped - that means between me, my two sisters, and my mother, at least one of us would have been abused or raped.

You cannot be human and not want to change that.

I'm a political science major at Duke University, and I wrote a research paper on rape as a tactic of war. Rape, especially when used during wartime, is one of the most heinous things to occur on this planet. I have spent time in Uganda, which borders DRC, and cannot think of the women in DRC without thinking of the students I taught at primary schools, of the girls in my class. A girl growing up in DRC has enough hardships in life without having to look forward to sexual assault of the worst kind as her fate in life.

Anything you can do to help WILL help! Raise awareness - the more people who know about the crisis, the more people who can donate money and lobby to find solutions to this femicide.

Help our sisters!