The Trumpet Newspaper Issue 554 (September 22 - October 5 2021) - USA Edition

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Page10 TheTrumpet SEPTEMBER 22 - OCTOBER 5 2021 · #YouCanAdopt is a nationwide adopter recruitment campaign, which, aims to raise awareness of adoption and tackle myths around who is eligible to adopt · Black, Asian and Mixed Ethnicity children wait longer to be placed for adoption than their White counterparts, with fewer than 5% of adopters in England coming from a Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic background · New film features Black adoptive parents sharing their experiences alongside a social worker explaining the adoption process https://youtu.be/A5wdrDZPjRU Adoption #YouCanAdopt: Adoptive parents share experiences in lead up to Black History Month With Black, Asian and Mixed Ethnicity children waiting longer to be placed for adoption than their White counterparts, and fewer than 5% of adopters in England coming from a Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic background, the #YouCanAdopt campaign has relaunched to acknowledge and celebrate adopters from the Black community while encouraging more people to consider adoption. Despite the large majority of Black people having positive and altruistic views towards adoption, there are still a number of barriers and misconceptions that can prevent people from taking the next step. This includes concerns around inadequate finances or housing, being considered too old, and worries about marital status (being single or unmarried). However, motivations regarding adoption are overwhelmingly positive among the Black community, and an increasing number of people successfully tackle these myths and provide children with a loving, safe, and stable home. In the lead up to Black History Month, a new film released by the #YouCanAdopt campaign celebrates adopters from the Black community talking about their journey and their thoughts on why more Black people should adopt Black or Mixed-heritage children. The film highlights the importance of Black children having Black role models they can look up to, who’ll guide them through life. Jacqui, who adopted her daughter as a single parent, says “Mervielle came to me really needing a family to love her, and that’s what we did. When you’ve got a young Black person growing up, they need to understand how to be able to navigate through society, and who better to help and support these young people than us, who’ve already been through it?” Azumah, who adopted her son Kwame in her 50s following unsuccessful IVF treatment and a hysterectomy, says “The best thing about adopting for us is that we now have this giggling, singing child running around the house. He is a happy and affectionate young boy who brings us great joy. I feel very proud being his mum and am thankful for this wonderful experience.” Pearl, who was already a mother to twin boys when she decided to adopt her daughter, says, “There are hundreds of thousands of Black and mixed-heritage children in the social care system in need of a family. I urge people in my community to step forward and make a difference. The rewards are plenty. Adopting my daughter was one of the best things I have ever done.” She explains. “I always tell my daughter, I didn’t push you out of my stomach - I pushed you out of my heart.” Amara, Pearl’s adopted daughter, is now at University studying International Business and Mandarin. “My parents were always open about my adoption, and from an early age would constantly reassure me that it was nothing to be ashamed of,” says Amara. “They would encourage me to ask questions whenever I felt confused, low, or just wanted to learn more about my adoption journey. Being so transparent with my family really strengthened our relationship, and I grew up feeling wanted, loved and secure.” Sherifa, who has worked in social care since 2003, highlights that since 2014, the adoption process has become easier and shorter and is now split into a two-stage process that spans across six months. Though this may still seem like a long time for some, Sherifa explains that the process is worth it. “Adoption is a route to parenthood, and as a Social Work practitioner, nothing gives me more joy than seeing the lives of children transformed for the better despite obstacles and an adverse start in life.” There are children all over England who are looking for loving parents and homes. For Black children, who are overrepresented in the care system, this is even more true. The adoption process is now simpler and quicker than ever before and there is a lot more support available, with over three quarters of adoptive parents finding resources helpful. The #YouCanAdopt campaign is being delivered from a cross-sector of Regional Adoption Agencies, Voluntary Adoption Agencies and other key stakeholders around adoption in England and is supported by the Department for Education. The campaign aims to ensure people have the correct information about adoption and do not rule themselves out based on false beliefs and assumptions. For more information, please visit https://www.youcanadopt.co.uk/blackadopters STALLIONS AIR Ipanema Travel Ltd AFRICA FLIGHTS SPECIALISTS LAGOS fr £477 (2 Bags) 020 7580 5999 07979 861 455 Call AMIT / ALEX 73 WELLS ST, W1T 3QG All Fares Seasonal ATOL 9179
SEPTEMBER 22 - OCTOBER 5 2021 TheTrumpet Page11 New findings from DR Congo’s Prison mass rape Continued from Page 8< inmates in control of the prison. Three days later, on September 28, a group of prisoners eventually put down the unrest and took control. They detained at least 40 inmates, including those who allegedly led the riot, tied them up, and handed them over to security forces. On October 7, the Haut-Katanga province police chief, Gen. Louis Segond Karawa, that Kasapa prison should be entirely emptied because it did not meet any security standards following the violent events. Karawa said: “We have nearly 60 women inmates [at Kasapa] and juveniles who are vulnerable; one sees what happens if we leave them among all these men and criminals. I demand that we transfer everyone [somewhere else] while we see how to rebuild this prison because in its current state, we can’t even refurbish it.” In the two weeks that followed the uprising, about 200 inmates were transferred to Likasi’s Buluo prison. On October 15, five convicted women were transferred to Boma prison, also in Likasi. Fifty soldiers have since been assigned to securing Kasapa prisons outside perimeter. Sexual Violence Over the course of three days, female detainees were repeatedly raped, sometimes by several male inmates taking turns, and at least one woman was penetrated with objects. Once the female prison section had been set on fire, the female detainees called for help to escape. Shortly after, the rapes began and continued while the female detainees slept in the prison yard. Ruth, 28, who like all survivors quoted is identified by a pseudonym to protect her safety, said that several men raped her on the first and second nights of the riot: “It was around 11pm each time. There were so many of them that I can’t tell you the exact number. They rushed over me, each of them wanted to take their turn.” Inmates carrying sticks and knives would choose women detainees in the yard and rape them either on the spot or in a more isolated corner. Amina, 38, said: “I went to urinate in the gutter when men came up to me and grabbed me by force. There were many of them, with machetes, iron bars, and knives … They had me walk to the back garden and raped me there.” Francine, 34, was carrying her newborn baby on her back and taking care of her three-year-old daughter when prisoners assaulted her and two other women. “It was on the first night; three men came for my daughter, but I protected her,” she said. “They took me instead, with two other women; my baby fell off my back and they raped the three of us. They told us not to look at them or they would hit us.” Some women said that more than 10 inmates raped them on the first night. that they were raped by five, ten, or up to twenty inmates. If a woman resisted, the men would call others to come and rape them to punish them, according to a UN report. In some cases, male inmates forced women to strip naked and protest in front of the prison gates to demand the release of prisoners. Human Rights Watch received credible reports of up to six cases of prisoners raping male inmates but could not speak directly with any male survivors. At least six teenage boys, ages 14 to 17, may have also been raped by male inmates, according to the UN, but Human Rights Watch could not corroborate the allegations. Physical and Psychological Trauma Women detainees said that staying on prison grounds where they had endured sexual violence forced them to constantly relive their horrific ordeal. Several survivors reported symptoms consistent with post-traumatic stress, including nightmares, insomnia, and persistent feelings of fear. Ruth described her symptoms: “I have nightmares here and I can hardly sleep. I have insomnia and I have a constant pain in my stomach. We have to get out of here. How can they leave us here after all that has happened? I was in good health when I first arrived in prison. Who is going to take responsibility for what happened to me? We haven’t had good care, and we don’t even get medicine anymore. We need to see doctors and get good treatment.” Bibiche, 43, whose husband is also held at Kasapa prison, said inmates groped her multiple times and punched her in the stomach. She said she was still suffering from abdominal pain at the time Human Rights Watch interviewed her in March 2021. In his June 23 letter to Human Rights Watch, Kyabula, the Provincial Governor, said that the provincial government “responds regularly and promptly to the requests of needs from [Kasapa prison’s] Director and the medical center’s Chief Doctor.” However, rape survivors did not receive timely and adequate medical care. A local non-governmental organization provided emergency care to some of the women detainees on September 30, 2020, five days after the first rape cases, making post-rape treatments ineffective to prevent HIV infection and unwanted pregnancy. Moreover, only half of the women benefited from the treatment due to lack of stock; others were only given antibiotics. Provincial authorities did not provide the prison with basic first aid kits and medication before late October, multiple sources said. Survivors of sexual violence received no medical treatment or counselling for two months, until a medical team was eventually deployed on December 1. The next day, MSF a medical tent on the prison grounds, treated all women and provided them with psychological support until December 16. Authorities have not provided any follow-up medical or psychosocial support to the rape survivors since that date. Human Rights Watch is not aware of any medical assistance provided to male survivors of sexual violence. Bernadette, 30, said she was raped twice during the riot. She had an unplanned pregnancy as a result but miscarried. She was released from prison in late February 2021 and described her continuing physical pain: “When I wash, my body tingles and I have vertigo. I contracted diseases and infections because of the rape and the conditions in prison. I still have abdominal pain since I’ve been freed but I can’t afford an ultrasound.” Stigma and Rejection Stigma and rejection are significant barriers for women and girls from Kasapa Central Prison in disclosing rape or seeking help. Some survivors said they fear their husbands or partners would abandon them if they disclosed they had been raped. Others said they feared family members would blame them, or that community members would publicly taunt them. Micheline said she lied to her husband: “A group of four boys came up to me, they took me behind the storage facility. I was crying, begging them to let me go. I told them they could have been my children, [three] then stopped but one of them still raped me. When my husband asked me what they had done to me, I lied to him and told him that they beat me. I can’t tell him that I was raped, otherwise my marriage will end.” Henriette, 47, said her husband stopped visiting her after he found out she was raped. She explained that his church eventually convinced him to visit her, but he warned that she would need to pay a “fine” to return home once released according to his customs. One of the detainees who was freed in recent months, Josephine, 54, said she was not able to tell her husband that she was raped and had contracted HIV: “If I tell my husband that I was raped and I got HIV, he will kick me out, and where am I going to go? I will be in the streets. I can’t even tell my children … My life is now wasted, my marriage and the future of my children, too.” Absence of Justice On September 29, 2020, Lubumbashi’s Public Prosecutor opened an investigation into the rapes. Thirtyseven women detainees and a 17-yearold girl testified during the Public Prosecutor’s investigation that they had been raped. In an October 5 letter that Human Rights Watch has seen, the Prosecutor requested a medical examination of sexual violence survivors by one of Lubumbashi’s main hospitals. However, despite this request and a second one in late November, hospital authorities failed to comply. Human Rights Watch contacted the hospital’s Director by phone in April, but the Director would not answer questions. Between October and December, investigators interviewed 38 female detainees at Kasapa prison. In January 2021, investigators went to Likasi and interviewed three convicted women who had been transferred to Boma prison. They also interviewed four of the alleged riot leaders who had been transferred to Buluo prison. On June 23, investigators returned to Buluo prison to interview ten prisoners alleged to have committed rape, and confronted them with three survivors. Investigators say they lack logistical support to plan a new round of interviews. The military prosecutor interviewed all prison officials, according to Kasapa’s military section commander. However, Human Rights Watch has found no evidence that any investigation was taking place into the security failings that enabled the September riot to occur.
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The Trumpet Newspaper Issue 554 (September 22 - October 5 2021) - USA Edition

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