The New York Times ran a story about men getting raped in Congo. It was already common knowledge that women get raped in Congo, sometimes more once, but for the NYTimes guys it appears that males getting raped is a big story. The truth is that this might be a big story if the New York Times had any figures associate with their article. The author, Jeffrey GETTLEMAN is, admittedly, not writing his worse article about Africa. In fact, if I look back at his covering of the Kenyan elections and the violence that followed them, which were simply offending and racist, I can honestly say this is a decent article.  Not a good article, but fairly decent.

There is something I want to mention before I explain what is wrong with this article. The brilliant bloggers at Wronging Rights have a print screen of the first title of this article which was, believe it or not, “Congo Plummets Into Rape and Murder.” By the time I got to read the article it was changed into “Symbol of Unhealed Congo: Male Rape Victims.” Simply disgusting.

Firstly, a slight nuance here. In this article, Jeffrey Gettleman (who would definitely not be seen as a gentleman by most of the Africans who are reading his ridiculous articles) is not lying. But he manipulates reality to fit his personal ends. He extrapolates meaning and reaches general conclusions from something that can barely serve as an example of how things are getting worse, not as a rule.

Things that are definitely wrong with this article:

1. The premise. Gettleman writes about men raped in Congo as if this is something new. It isn’t. I myself met two men who were raped in Goma more than a year ago. They were introduced to me by my Congolese friend who works at a humanitarian relief agency in Goma. I did not want to make them think about this painful experience so I did not ask them for details. One of them did talk to me. At the time, I decided not to write about his incident especially because people come up with delusional conclusions from what was, in my experience, an isolated case. But it wasn’t isolated. Doctors in Congo, or at least in Goma have been dealing with this issue for years. During my last stay in Goma I was told exactly that. So what Gettleman did not know was in fact that this is not a new story, buy something he just recently got in touch with. But a journalist is responsible to make an investigation not just write an article after some superficial research. In other words, dear editors from the New York Times, please bear in mind that this is not something new. It just happened that this wasn’t nor reported in the past.
2. The bloggers from the Wronging Rights noted this stupid mistake but I feel like recalling it as well. Gettleman  talks about a “sudden spike” in men getting raped. He cites no reports, no sources, no doctors, and no nurses. In fact, I think he just used the word spike in order to justify the article he submitted for the NYTimes. And yet no one thought about asking him what this spike really is before the article was published which makes me wonder who the hell is the editor overseeing the Africa section of the journal. He should definitely be fired. And not only for this article. If Gettleman knows anything about such a spike, he should actually share it with us and source should be quoted.
3. This guy quotes four rape victims. And he writes as if there are thousands of people in his situation. Like in the past, Gettleman looks into isolated events and decides he can make a general argument, hence his first and second title. This shows no respect for Congo, for the local specificities or the context in which the rapes are occurring. Rape, war and disorder do not characterize the entire country but form an isolated unfortunate event in the eastern part of the Congo. So when the smartasses from the New York Times come up with a title like “Congo Plummets Into Rape and Murder,” they fail to acknowledge that Goma and Kinshasa, to take a couple of cities that people might be familiar with, are completely different. People don’t just get raped everywhere in Congo but where other interests are at stake: the control of the population, their enslavement, and other political, ideological, and military incidents.
4. This journalist argues that “The United Nations already considers eastern Congo the rape capital of the world.” I seriously doubt the United Nations ever made that statement. This is just another shenanigan pulled out of the author’s pocket for dramatic effects.
5. I personally find this article sexist. At one point, the guy, admittedly quoting from some aid workers, argues that for men it is harder to bounce back than for women after getting raped. He talks of the shame of getting raped and the fact that homosexuality is a taboo which brings along a dose of ridiculousness in the eyes of the other members of the community towards the rape victims.  Whereas I understand how these factors can play a role in isolating the male rape victims, I seriously don’t understand how the guy was able to write that line with a straight face. How does he know that women can overcome rape easier than men? How can anyone overcome rape in an easy way? It takes years for victims to readjust socially, and I really don’t think it is safe or even moral to argue that women – as a category – can overcome rape easier than men. This is just an insensitive comment, one that should be deleted.

That’s it for now.

I’m afraid I’m going to ask myself this question quite frequently from now on: how the hell was Jeffrey Gettleman even hired by the New York Times???