coltan

For Shame: The Congo Nightmare Continues

Kara Swisher in News on August 11, 2009 at 9:09 am PT

Eve Ensler, playwright, activist and creator of V-Day, appeared at the the seventh D: All Things Digital conference in late May to talk about the links between what goes into making mobile phones and human rights violations. There, she shed much needed light on the dire situation in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where some of the worst atrocities are now being committed on the population in a terrible civil war. She predicted it would get worse without massive international intervention. Tragically, she was right.

V-Day Founder Eve Ensler: The Full D7 Session

Kara Swisher in D7 on June 18, 2009 at 10:04 pm PT

Onstage in an interview at the seventh D: All Things Digital conference, Eve Ensler shed much-needed light on the dire situation in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Ensler’s aim is to end the use of rape as a weapon of war there, in part as a consequence of the region’s coltan trade. Coltan, or columbite tantalite, is a mineral essential to the manufacture of a wide array of consumer electronics, such as mobile phones and laptops. It is well worth hearing about exactly how some of our everyday gadgets come to us at a terrible price.

V-Day Founder Eve Ensler: The Full D7 Session

Kara Swisher in D7 on June 18, 2009 at 12:21 am PT

Onstage in an interview at the seventh D: All Things Digital conference, Eve Ensler shed much-needed light on the dire situation in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Ensler’s aim is to end the use of rape as a weapon of war there, in part as a consequence of the region’s coltan trade. Coltan, or columbite tantalite, is a mineral essential to the manufacture of a wide array of consumer electronics, such as mobile phones and laptops. It is well worth hearing about exactly how some of our everyday gadgets come to us at a terrible price.

Eve Ensler Calls for Rape-Free Cellphones

John Paczkowski in D7 on May 27, 2009 at 12:19 pm PT

On May 13, 2009, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing called “Confronting Rape and Other Forms of Violence Against Women in Conflict Zones.” Its purpose: to end the use of rape-as-a-weapon-of-war in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo–a place where 1,100 women a month are raped, in part as a consequence of the region’s coltan trade. Coltan, or columbite tantalite, is a mineral essential to the manufacture of a wide array of consumer electronics–cellphones, laptops. Among those who testified, Eve Ensler, playwright of “The Vagina Monologues” and the founder of V-Day, a global movement to end violence against women and girls–and a speaker at D7.