Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo

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.