Silence is the Enemy

I first became aware of this through a post on Phil Plait's Bad Astronomy:

Silence is the Enemy: Bad Astronomy

When you see something that outrages you, do you simply accept it, or do you speak out? One problem is that there are so many outrages in the world today it’s hard to know which ones to rage against.

So let me suggest this one: mass rapings of girls across the globe.

Blunt? Yes. But this is truly horrifying, and bluntness makes the point. And the problem here is lack of awareness; did you know that in war-ravaged places like Liberia, Sudan, and the Congo, mass rape of little girls is common. Learn about it in this disturbing NYT article, if you can stomach it. Reading that made my heart ache.

But that article must have been far more difficult for my Discover Magazine fellow blogger Sheril Kirshenbaum. She bravely describes her own near-rape experience, and has decided to take action, creating Silence is the Enemy, an effort to raise awareness about this appalling situation. She and other bloggers are also raising money for Doctors without Borders so that they can help take care of the victims.

Then I saw another post with this same title, on Dr. Isis's On Becoming a Domestic and Laboratory Goddess:

Silence is the Enemy : On Becoming a Domestic and Laboratory Goddess

A few days ago Sheril Kirshenbaum of The Intersection emailed me a story from the New York Times and wrote, "I wonder if we can collaborate on something related to drawing attention to [this?]."

I read Nicholas Kristof's article on the rape of children in post war Liberia with tears in my eyes. Here's an excerpt from the piece, but I'd encourage you to read the article in its entirety. It is a perfect example of brilliant reporting.

I'm not going to write anymore. Instead I will ask you to please - PLEASE - follow the links to these blog posts. Read them. Follow the enclosed link. Post links to them on your own blogs. Do what you can to bring attention to this issue.

Just one thing more from Dr. Isis:

Finally, for the month if June I will donate all of my blogging revenues to the nonprofit organization Doctors Without Borders. This group taken on the task of caring for the childhood victims. Here are the blogs that will be joining me in the donation:

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/
http://scienceblogs.com/isisthescientist/
http://scienceblogs.com/aetiology/
http://scienceblogs.com/bioephemera/
http://scienceblogs.com/neurotopia/
http://scienceblogs.com/authority/
http://scienceblogs.com/drugmonkey/
http://scienceblogs.com/ethicsandscience/

I'd encourage you to click those blogs and visit often, knowing that every click with not only offer you some of the best scientific content around, but that each click will generate revenue to help aid the victims of this travesty. I'd ask you to tell your friends about our efforts, pass this link on to them, and ask them to click also.

Please help. Even with just the click of a mouse.