NOT JUST A WEAPON OF WAR!

It always amazes me how bad or tragic news always hits the headlines and stays there for days on end, whereas good news is relegated to maybe just one little mention but once or twice.  I think it must be because horrors and dramas, plus reports about people who really have done nothing of importance in life except happen to have money, carry a fascination for people these days - quite apart from the fact that headlines on these things sell the papers and advertising space on the radio and television.  I wonder really of what is the importance of four days of headline news that tell us that someone called Kim Kardashian (who is she anyway and what has she done?) suddenly changed the venue of her wedding from Paris to Italy, that she flew to Italy in a privately chartered jet from Paris and that she and her fiancee spent over $400,000 just to rent the castle where the wedding was held.!!   Let's get real!  Is all that really worthy of four days of headline news?   I don't think so.

Then there is the "flip" side of the news that was barely mentioned other than two short articles on the first and fourth day - the closing day.  I am talking about the "Global Summit To End Sexual Violence in Conflict" that was held in London and ended just yesterday (Friday).  That was an extraordinarily important event that was organized by the British Foreign Secretary, Mr. William Hague and the actress Miss Angelina Jolie.  Apart from the BBC giving it full coverage and Miss Christiane Amanpour doing an excellent joint interview with Miss Jolie and Mr. Hague , the other media outlets - including the rest of CNN - and sources almost ignored it.

This 4-day summit in London really was an historic occasion.  It is almost three years since Mr. Hague and Miss Jolie got together and produced what was called "The Declaration of Commitment to End Sexual Violence in Conflict" and in that length of time they succeeded in getting 141 countries to sign on.  What an achievement!  Church Leaders, Heads of State, Diplomats, Politicians as well as survivors of rape converged on London for the occasion from all over the world.  What a tremendous achievement, and this morning I was so pleased to see that Miss Jolie's efforts in this matter have been rewarded by Queen Elizabeth making her an Honorary Dame Commander of the British Empire.

The world has got to stop and take notice of what has been going on.  So often people put down these things as something that happens in Third World countries, but as Miss Jolie and Mr. Hague so forcefully pointed out it happens everywhere - they saw it first hand in Bosnia and Serbia - countries not regarded as Third World.  Education on the subject is the only thing that will stop future soldiers from doing this and bringing to justice those responsible for these atrocities is also a "must".

However the whole question of violence against women cannot stop just in the area of sexual abuse as a weapon of war, bad as that is.  It is seldom mentioned - and it is certainly not generally talked about that 1 in 8 women in the United States are sexually abused and/or have violence used against them  In Australia the figure is 1 in 6.  I do not have the figures for the United Kingdom or the rest of Europe, but it goes on there as well, and in this otherwise beautiful country of Cambodia, violence against women whether sexual or otherwise is prevalent.

The whole subject that violence of any kind against women is totally wrong, is a very difficult subject to deal with for the simple reason people don't like to discuss it.  If someone has been through it, then they feel ashamed and are embarrassed to mention it.  In my days as a parish priest in London, mainland U.S.A. and Hawaii I came across many cases of where women stayed with abusive husbands or partners only because they were ashamed to tell people or to admit what was going on.  In some countries women are stigmatized, banished and regarded as outcasts if they have been raped and in some Middle East and African countries they can be tried as criminals and adulterers.

Every Monday evening I watch a programme on ABC - Australian Broadcasting Corporation from Sydney.  The programme is called "Q & A"- Question and Answer - during which members of the audience ask questions of the panel which is always comprised of well-known politicians, authors, actors or whomever.  Just two weeks ago the subject of violence in general came up and a well-known Australian journalist and critic surprised everyone by saying that she had been the subject of violence and rape, but she was not going to keep quiet about it.  She said she did not feel herself as a victim, but rather as a survivor and as such it was her duty to speak out.  A difficult attitude to take, but a right one nevertheless.

As Miss Jolie pointed out in her closing speech at the London Summit, sexual violence is not just a weapon of war - although the practice of that is decidedly prevelant has to be stopped - but it happens in all walks of life.  India has been rocked by horrific violence against women in the last couple of weeks.  Two teenage girls were raped and then hanged from a mango tree in their village.   Since then two other women in  Utar Pradesh State have also suffered the same fate.  Another young woman was stoned to death outside of a Court House because she had married the man of her choice, and the police - who since have been arrested fortunately, stood by and did nothing.

Both Miss Jolie and Mr. Hague said that every person can do something about it if only by speaking out against violence at every opportunity.  Every voice counts, and people should know that they need not be ashamed if they have been the subject of violence.  Asked by Miss Christiane Amanpour how else she was going to fight violence, Miss Jolie replied that she was taking up the subject of sexual violence in the U.S. armed forces.  That will be an uphill struggle for her as the Pentagon is firm in its many statements that there is very little of that going on.  Look and listen again, I say to them.

I congratulate both Mr. Hague and Miss Jolie for their initiative in tackling the very important subject in such a forthright manner, and I further congratulate Miss Jolie in receiving from Queen Elizabeth the honour of being made an Honorary Dame Commander of the British Empire.  Because she is not a British citizen, she cannot officially be called "Dame Angelina Jolie" but nevertheless it is an honour well deserved.

This is a subject that should never be forgotten or overshadowed by some so-called TV starlet's wedding.  This is an extremely serious matter with which the world has to deal and deal with now.