WMC’s Women Under Siege is a journalism project that investigates how rape and other forms of sexualized violence are used as tools in genocide and conflict throughout the 20th century and into the 21st. Originated by Gloria Steinem, it builds on the lessons revealed in the anthology Sexual Violence Against Jewish Women During the Holocaust by Sonja Hedgepeth and Rochelle Saidel, and also in At the Dark End of the Street: Black Women, Rape and Resistance—a New History of the Civil Rights Movement from Rosa Parks to the Rise of Black Power by Danielle McGuire. In the belief that understanding what happened then might have helped us prevent or prepare for the mass sexual assaults of other conflicts, from Bosnia to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, this Women’s Media Center project is exploring this linkage to heighten public consciousness of causes and preventions.

The project has two main components:

1. A public education plan to demonstrate that rape is a tool of war (not only a crime of war, but also a strategic tool). This plan includes testimony from and partnership with survivors of modern wars from Bosnia to Darfur.
2. An action plan to push for the creation of legal, diplomatic, and public interventions to ensure the United Nations, international tribunals, and other agencies with power will understand the gender-based threats as a tool of genocide and will design protocols to intervene and halt gender-based genocide.

Please click over to WomenUnderSiegeSyria.crowdmap.com for our live, crowdsourced map of rape in Syria. To read more about the map, click here.

WMC’s Women Under Siege project is funded by contributions from individuals, corporations, and foundations. We are not funded by the U.S. or any other government.

Staff

	Lauren Wolfe, Director Lauren Wolfe is an award-winning journalist who has written for publications from The Guardian to The Atlantic. She is on the advisory committee of the International Campaign to Stop Rape & Gender Violence in Conflict. Previously, she was the senior editor of the Committee to Protect Journalists, where she focused on journalists and sexualized violence. Her CPJ report “The Silencing Crime” broke ground in documenting the issue. Before that, Wolfe spent three years reporting on September 11th for two New York Times books. She studied at Wesleyan University and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, and is the recipient of the 2012 Frank Ochberg Award for Media and Trauma Study and four Society of Professional Journalists awards. She also blogs at laurenmwolfe.com and can be found on Twitter at @Wolfe321.
	Michele Lent Hirsch, Associate Editor Michele Lent Hirsch draws on both science journalism and international experience to report on sexualized violence. In her previous role at Psychology Today magazine, she wrote and edited a wide range of pieces that made the latest research on behavior and the brain more accessible (and more fun). As a freelance writer before that, she worked by day at the global network of Soros foundations, where she helped social justice programs adhere to national and international regulations. A native New Yorker and graduate of Cornell University, she is also at work on a collection of essays. Find her on Twitter at @Lent_Hirsch.
	Shazdeh Omari, Copy Editor Shazdeh Omari is the deputy editor for news at the Committee to Protect Journalists. Before that, she was the copy chief at The Village Voice for four years. She has worked as a reporter, writer, editor, medical editor, and copy editor in the United States and Greece. Prior to her career in publishing, she taught English at Western Connecticut State University and reported, wrote, and produced radio features as an intern at United Nations Radio. Omari was born in Saudi Arabia and raised in Karachi, Pakistan, where she learned to read, speak, and write Urdu.
	Rachel Halder, Social Media Associate Rachel Halder is a recent graduate of Goshen College, Indiana. With communication and women studies degrees, she is the social media power behind WMC’s Women Under Siege, creating conversation around sexualized violence in conflict on multiple platforms, including on Twitter at @WomenUndrSiege. Prior to this, she lived and worked for a year at a women’s empowerment center in Jayapura, Papua, Indonesia. She’s also a freelance writer and is pursuing a personal project called Our Stories Untold about sexualized violence in the Mennonite Church. You can follow her on Twitter at @raerrh.

What the media is saying about Women Under Siege:

“A fantastic organization. I urge our viewers to follow you on Twitter because your organization very regularly puts out fascinating reports—depressing—but very interesting to read and stay in touch with.” —Hala Gorani on CNN International, January 10, 2013

“There are so many powerful stories on the Women Under Siege website.” –Xeni Jardin on BoingBoing, “The invisible genocide of women,” February 14, 2012

“A site worth watching… .The new site states its mission bluntly; Women Under Siege looks to be a project with an edge. But there is another reason to visit the Web site: its original content.” —C.J. Chivers on the New York Times’ “At War” blog, “What We Are Reading: Women Under Siege,” February 9, 2012

“With both the silencing and shame of rape victims a global phenomenon, I found this project moving and inspirational. Go and have a look.” —Jane Martinson on The Guardian’s “Women’s Blog,” “Why has it taken 65 years to recognise that rape is a weapon of war?” February 9, 2012

“[Stories] are also just stories. Can they change the lived reality of women in conflict zones and misogynistic cultures? Can they leverage implementation of dormant laws and cajole corrupted law enforcement officials out of their jobs? That remains to be seen. But at least perhaps a global chorus of voices and first-hand experiences is a step in that direction.” —Jessica Mack on RH Reality Check, “The Launch of "Women Under Siege:" A Journalistic Megaphone For Victims of Sexual Violence,” February 8, 2012

Comments: WMC’s Women Under Siege reserves the right to moderate blog comments.