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Feminists Around the World: Julienne Lusenge · Stuff Mom Never Told You

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  Speaker 1: Hey, this is Annie and Samantha and welcome to Stefan
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  Speaker 1: ever told your prediction of iHeartRadio.
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  Speaker 2: And welcome back to another feminist around the world. And
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  Speaker 2: today we are talking about the work and activism of
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  Speaker 2: Julian Lusinghai and LUCINAI is a journalist, broadcaster and activist
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  Speaker 2: out of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and she
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  Speaker 2: has become a leader in the country as her work
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  Speaker 2: has earned her numerous accolades and titles. And as per usual,
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  Speaker 2: when we talk about people international people, we are trying
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  Speaker 2: our damn dists. I feel like this is said on
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  Speaker 2: everyone and just in case you're new, we are trying
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  Speaker 2: our best with the names and the countries. It's really
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  Speaker 2: hard when you are American centric and they don't think.
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  Speaker 2: I guess the internet is like, you don't need to
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  Speaker 2: know this because we can rarely find the pronunciations. So
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  Speaker 2: bear with us. If it's not correct, and you know
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  Speaker 2: the correct pronunciation, please let us know with kindness, because
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  Speaker 2: we do want to learn. We need a whole like
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  Speaker 2: library so that people can have that too. If one
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  Speaker 2: day who can build it up, I'd be a great resource, right,
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  Speaker 2: amazing because you know, trying to remember people to get
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  Speaker 2: people's names, and then countries, and then small areas and
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  Speaker 2: then all the things.
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  Speaker 1: Y'all.
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  Speaker 2: It's difficult. So, like I said, we're trying our best.
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  Speaker 2: But if you have the actual correct pronunciation of anything,
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  Speaker 2: please let us know. We would love that and maybe
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  Speaker 2: we can again bank it somehow and then put it
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  Speaker 2: as a resource as an idea for future times. Yes so,
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  Speaker 2: But before all of the titles and accolades came, Lucingey
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  Speaker 2: started out as a journalist in the Eastern DRC. Born
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  Speaker 2: in Watsa, or the Congolese providence of Awele, she was
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  Speaker 2: raised by strong parents who taught her to fight for
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  Speaker 2: justice and speak her mind. She told the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative.
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  Speaker 2: My father mother taught me to speak out and to
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  Speaker 2: defend my ideas. I grew up in a family where
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  Speaker 2: it was only natural for my mom and dad to
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  Speaker 2: talk to each other, even if they didn't agree. From childhood,
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  Speaker 2: my parents taught me to fight against injustice, not to
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  Speaker 2: see others suffer and go away.
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  Speaker 1: This led to her career, where she first started with
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  Speaker 1: a community radio station in nineteen seventy eight. There she
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  Speaker 1: would begin her time collecting stories around her community she
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  Speaker 1: recalled to Aurora. Being a journalist gave me access to
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  Speaker 1: local villages in a more intimate way. Women knew me
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  Speaker 1: and trusted me. I saw glaring inequalities, a woman who
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  Speaker 1: did not dare speak just because she was in front
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  Speaker 1: of a man, or the traditional chief, Women who were
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  Speaker 1: abused but who could not talk about it for fear
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  Speaker 1: of further violence. I thought to myself, if I have
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  Speaker 1: had the opportunity to be educated and have the opportunity
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  Speaker 1: to speak, why not continue to help other women speak
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  Speaker 1: for themselves? And she would continue to collect stories of
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  Speaker 1: injustice and inequalities of the women in her country and
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  Speaker 1: made sure to give voices to those who couldn't tell
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  Speaker 1: their stories themselves.
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  Speaker 2: So she goes on in her interview saying the DRC
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  Speaker 2: my home has been a place of conflict for decades.
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  Speaker 2: I saw my neighboring province of Ituri dissolve into conflict
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  Speaker 2: in nineteen ninety seven, when the fault lines between ethnic
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  Speaker 2: groups were exploited by warlords and community leaders. Being ignored
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  Speaker 2: due to my ethnicity in places I had once been
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  Speaker 2: welcomed was deeply painful, but it also deep in my
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  Speaker 2: empathy for those I had connected with for so many years.
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  Speaker 2: We started to receive shocking reports of armed groups raping
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  Speaker 2: women in the communities. It was too much. I had
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  Speaker 2: to get involved. I began to document cases and challenge
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  Speaker 2: local leaders of armed groups. I begged them to stop
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  Speaker 2: using violence against women as a weapon of war. This
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  Speaker 2: is how he became known in the international community the
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  Speaker 2: quote rape capital of the world. I knew that I
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  Speaker 2: could not could not rest until my beloved country was
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  Speaker 2: known differently.
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  Speaker 1: And it was in two thousand that she and seven
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  Speaker 1: other journalists came together to start the Women's Solidarity for
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  Speaker 1: Inclusive Peace and Development or SOOFEPADI. And here's some information
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  Speaker 1: about their organization from their websites. They work to promote
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  Speaker 1: and defend the specific rights of women and girls. They
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  Speaker 1: aim for a Congo in which women and girls have
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  Speaker 1: the same access to basic social rights as men. Their
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  Speaker 1: services include prevention and treatment of gender based violence and abuse,
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  Speaker 1: assisting them legally, medically, and psychologically. They also continue in
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  Speaker 1: working with these survivors to train them for trades and skills.
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  Speaker 2: Here's a bit more information thanks to Wikipedia. The group
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  Speaker 2: came together to bring the issues of gender based violences
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  Speaker 2: to the attention of international organizations working in the region
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  Speaker 2: included the United Nations. Their plan was to assist survivors
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  Speaker 2: covering from trauma, helping them to navigate the judicial system
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  Speaker 2: and bring the propartrators of sexual assault to justice.
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  Speaker 1: And also from the Aurora interview quote, its goal is
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  Speaker 1: to make sure the Congolese government and the UN recognize
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  Speaker 1: the devastation of rape and its use as a weapon
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  Speaker 1: of war and to support the survivors of sexual violence.
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  Speaker 1: Part of Soofepadi is a hospital and mobile clinic providing
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  Speaker 1: holistic medical and psychological care to survivors of sexual violence.
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  Speaker 1: In twenty ten to twenty twenty, the medical center received
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  Speaker 1: and treated six two hundred and eighty four people, including
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  Speaker 1: five hundred and sixty seven internally displaced people. Sofepadi also
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  Speaker 1: encourages socioeconomic reintegration with income generating activities, apprenticeships and school reintegration,
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  Speaker 1: and provides the survivors with legal advice and representation in court.
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  Speaker 2: And With this organization, Lusinghay also launched the Fund for
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  Speaker 2: Congolese Women or the FFC, which helps secure funding for
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  Speaker 2: congose women's rights groups and also has partner to start
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  Speaker 2: the Media Matters for Women organization which focuses on quote
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  Speaker 2: rudging the digital divide for isolated women and girls in poor,
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  Speaker 2: remote communities in Africa who like access to information about
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  Speaker 2: their rights and are at risk for gender based violence
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  Speaker 2: and deepening poverty.
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  Speaker 1: And of course with all of this, she has been
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  Speaker 1: ampointed to different leadership positions to continue to advocate for
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  Speaker 1: her community, including by the World Health Organization in twenty
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  Speaker 1: twenty to investigate claims of sexual exportation and abuse by
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  Speaker 1: aid workers, being in charge of the critical issues of Women,
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  Speaker 1: peace and security, good governance, democracy, elections and Human Rights
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  Speaker 1: for the High Panel during the twenty twenty DRC presidency.
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  Speaker 2: Right and with all this, she has been given many
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  Speaker 2: accolades and awards, including in twenty twenty she was recognized
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  Speaker 2: by the United Nations as the first of twenty Women
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  Speaker 2: to Watch for her advocacy work. In twenty twenty one,
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  Speaker 2: she was the Aurora Laureate the twenty eighteen International Women's
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  Speaker 2: Rights Award for the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy,
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  Speaker 2: and she was given the French Government Award for Human
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  Speaker 2: Rights in twenty twelve. So she has done a lot
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  Speaker 2: and continues to do a lot. She was a really
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  Speaker 2: big advocate and worker and leader for the DRC during
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  Speaker 2: the pandemic. And we know there's a lot happening in
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  Speaker 2: the Congo region right now and we don't want to
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  Speaker 2: neglect that.
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  Speaker 1: Obviously.
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  Speaker 2: We're trying to bring out as many conversations about these
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  Speaker 2: amazing women who are working during times of conflict. Yeah,
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  Speaker 2: I think you might see a pattern. Yeah, and we
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  Speaker 2: do want to keep talking about it. There's not much
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  Speaker 2: we can do, but we can keep talking about the
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  Speaker 2: individuals who are doing so much during such a harsh time.
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely, and as always, listeners, if you have any suggestions, resources,
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  Speaker 1: follow ups, Jess let us know. You can email us
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  Speaker 1: can get wherever you get your books. Thanks as always
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  Speaker 1: to our super producer Christina, our executive force through Maya,
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  Speaker 1: and your contributor Joey. Thank you and thanks to you
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