Last week Amnesty launched a new poster campaign across the London Tubes. The poster image is of a huge bullet with the strapline running across stating that ‘rape is cheaper than bullets’.  It’s already generated some chatter – check out the debate on Heather Harvey’s blog on Comment is Free.   

Yes, it’s provocative.  But we needed to address the fact that in many wars around the world, past and present – from The Balkans to the Democratic Republic of Congo, rape and sexual violence against women has been regularly used by armed forces to threaten and destabilise a community.  It’s a war crime but very few of the people behind these crimes actually get punished.

Amnesty International is campaigning for governments around the world to acknowledge women’s rights and needs during conflict and afterwards.  At the moment, on the whole they’re pretty much ignored.

Speaking of wars and unfair impacts on women, I was shocked to read today’s Times about a leading Afghani actress whose husband was killed in December last year and has been forced into hiding because of the Taleban’s dominance in the country.  It’s far too reminiciscent of what’s going on in Pakistan’s SWAT Valley – check out Niluccio’s blog for more on that.