Courtesy of Creative Commons, WeNews

Five speakers. Five brave women. And many, many incredible stories. 

At a panel discussion on Thursday held in honor of International Women’s Day on Sunday, March 11, The USC Shoah Foundation Institute along with the United Nations Outreach program held the “Strength through Adversity: Women and Mass Violence” event with five women sharing their personal stories as well as other brave women's stories. 

“I speak on behalf of the victim women who cannot speak on behalf of themselves,” said Rose Mapendo, a Tutsi Congolese who survived the genocide in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Mapendo's work in creating Mapendo New Horizons, which improves the lives of women and girls, has earned her the CNN Heroes Award and the Office of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Humanitarian Award. Mapendo spoke about the necessity of courage as she had endured death camps and the deaths of friends and family.

“We are here to learn how we can try to help the victims,” she said. “Those who are victims do not choose to be victims.”

Her powerful story raised issues regarding women’s rights throughout the international community, something that was further addressed by Alison Dundes Renteln, another panelist.

Renteln, a professor of political science and anthropology at USC, focused her discussion mainly on the conditions of international law and how it is ineffective, as of yet, in helping women’s rights around the world. She drew attention to many forms of violence against women, such as honor killing, sex trafficking, acid violence, mass rapes, and many more, citing the inability to effectively enforce laws against these acts.

"There has been a shift in the thinking of international law” in that states should now be held responsible for crimes against women, she said.

The genocide during the Holocaust was addressed by Kimberly Mann, who spoke about many of the heroines during the war and how they should be the role models for women. 

“Where do young women get their role models?” asked Mann. “Hollywood. But there are real heroines for women [during the Holocaust].” Mann compared strong female characters in movies-- Lara Croft, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, and Salt-- to real-life bravery during World War II and those who risked their lives in the death camps during the Holocaust.

The final speaker, Sabina Vejraca, spoke of her experience as a young girl during the war in Bosnia and how she was sent out of her country in order to be protected from the rape camps common during the war. Vejraca also spoke of her work as a director and producer of “Back to Bosnia,” a story that reflected her family’s experience during the war. 

“Sometimes I do not cry for myself, I cry for the sorrow for the victims,” said Mapendo at a reception with the audience following the panel discussion. “We are here as a voice. Let us try to push the elephant together.”