Ruby's Trip to Bosnia-Hercegovina: Ode to Sarah (a work in progress)

Monday, July 16, 2007

Ode to Sarah (a work in progress)

Sarah is my new friend who is wonderful and here are some of the reasons why:

Studying Sociology and Demography
Always caring for people and the earth
Righteous
Angry only when appropriate
Her skills include getting air conditioning in our room

She is my hero
Truly a wonder of a woman
A self-described Africanist
Venturing to faraway lands
Evolved mind
Thinking all the time
Eventually I hope to be like her someday
Individual and unique
Gorgeous personality and embodied self

And a Haiku for Sarah

Sarah Staveteig
Learning about womens lives
Knocking on their doors

No comments:

Post a Comment

International Association of Genocide Scholars Conference

I have been invited to present my work at this conference, which focuses on understanding and thus preventing genocide. The conference is held biannually, and it alternates between a US location and an international location. This is the first time the conference has been held in a place where there was a recent genocide, and the conference has shifted appropriately to give homage to the atrocities that happened in Sarajevo and Bosnia-Hercegovina. For example, we will be spending the entire day on Wednesday participating in a memorial at Srebrenica (where 8,000 Muslim men and boys were slaughtered and women and girls were forcibly removed and assaulted). The memorial includes a reburial of remains that were excavated/identified in the past year (they have this memorial with proper reburial of remains discovered each year). If you want to learn more about the conference or read about the presentations I will be attending, you can check out the main website at http://www.isg-iags.org/ and the conference website at http://www.isg-iags.org/events/2007iags.html.

The Contemporary Problem of Mass Rape

Sexual assault is used as a tactic of war and genocide because of its consequences for individuals, families, and communities. The physical and emotional impact of individual assaults are magnified when rape is committed on a mass scale, as in Bosnia-Hercegovina, Rwanda, and Darfur. Forced sexual penetration with insemination and impregnation represents a symbolic conquest of the woman by the rapist and by extension the raped woman’s community, family or culture.

This symbolic conquest becomes applicable to the whole population as survivors, witnesses, families and communities internalize rape as an assault on their collective identity. Although social welfare is uniquely suited to respond to the problems of rape, the topic of mass rape has been neglected. This book makes a plea for deeper engagement by social welfare and social work scholars and professionals in responding to the problems of mass rape.

Ruby's Trip to Bosnia-Hercegovina

Monday, July 16, 2007

Ode to Sarah (a work in progress)

No comments:

About Me

What did you know about Bosnia before Ruby took this trip?

If You Are Interested in My Work

The Old Bridge of Mostar

Links to More Information

Useful Previous Posts for Background Information

International Association of Genocide Scholars Conference

Ruby's Book is Available!

Read a Review

The Contemporary Problem of Mass Rape

Visitors