Raped women and their children in eastern Congo
While the world looks to Ukraine and the Middle East, to Donald Trump, Elon Musk and, most recently, to Germany, the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is once again sinking into a nightmare. The M23 “rebels” are marauding again. They murder, loot and rape – and have been doing so for three decades. More here.
One year ago today, the young Lakota Esther Wolfe fell victim to a “public execution”.
Esther was one of the many missing indigenous women – for nine long days and nights. That was how long her former partner held her captive and brutally abused her. After that, Esther called herself a “survivor”. She made her journey to the Spirit World in Rapid City, South Dakota, on February 21, 2024 at the age of 25. I interviewed her there in December 2022. You can find the text and interview that I posted after her murder here.
Two female writers, a bank robbery and an adopted fox
The best thing about traveling is the people I meet along the way. At Flathead Lake in Montana, I met two remarkable women. Both are rooted in their Christian faith, write under a pen name and self-publish their books. Get to know Hannah and Sarah and their powerful stories – in real life as well as in their books. More here.
Afghanistan: women’s rights continue to be restricted.
The systematic eradication of women from public life continues with a new Taliban decree. Nevertheless, the USA and Germany, for example, continue to finance humanitarian aid projects. What do Afghan women’s rights activists say about this? More here.
Twenty years ago, Ghofrane Haddaoui was cruelly murdered in Marseille.
Stoning to death: an archaic punishment only in Iran and Afghanistan? It is the year 2004: a 23-year-old woman is beaten and pelted with stones in the middle of Europe, in France, so that she dies in agony. How could this happen? More here.
A book review about a taboo subject. Guest post by Volker Seitz
The film “The Abused Servants of God” (2019) and Pope Francis’ admission that the abuse of nuns exists have sensitized societies in Europe. In Africa there was silence. In her pioneering work, nun Mary Lembo describes the exploitation of young nuns by Catholic priests. More here.
Former GDR women’s prison: a memorial since July 2024
There were cells for solitary confinement and dark detention. Around 24,000 women were imprisoned in Hoheneck in the Ore Mountains, around 8,000 of whom were political prisoners – the “Hoheneck women”. One of them was the biologist and now travel writer Carmen Rohrbach. She tells her story here.
Guest post: Film “Petra Kelly – Act Now!” about Green icon
Petra Kelly, born in Germany, grew up in the USA in the 1960s. As a student, she worked in Robert F. Kennedy’s election campaign team. Her role model was Martin Luther King Jr. with his philosophy of civil disobedience. In the early 1980s, she mobilized hundreds of thousands of people in Germany against the deployment of US nuclear missiles. More here.
The Taliban have been ruling Afghanistan again for three years now.
After the end of the NATO mission and the head-over-heels withdrawal of the USA, the Taliban declared themselves the new government of Afghanistan on August 15, 2021. Since then, women have lost all their rights. One woman is even to be stoned to death for extramarital sex. More here.
August 9: 30th International Day of World’s Indigenous Peoples
As part of the exhibition “Matriarchs of Wounded Knee – the strong Indigenous women” in Munich, a Zoom call with activist Marcella Gilbert and film director Elizabeth Castle (“Warrior Women”) will take place at 1pm EST via Link.
