Lancaster Online - Remembering Nigerian Girls Kidnapped by Boko Haram

Op-Ed

By Rep. Joe Pitts

They were just trying to get an education, to do something good for themselves and for their families. They wanted to learn to read, to write, and to do math.

But a group of radical terrorists believe that, just because they are girls, that is haram--sinful.

It has been one year and one month since Boko Haram kidnapped 270 schoolgirls in Chibok, Nigeria. In the West, we were shocked. Celebrities like Ellen DeGeneres and Michelle Obama used their fame to bring attention to this human rights violation.

This is by no means an isolated incident. In large parts of Africa and elsewhere, girls live in fear each day of kidnapping, mutilation, and other forms of violence. They cannot hope to go to school, to learn to drive, or go out alone.

It is sad to say, but violence against women is so rampant in some societies that many have forgotten about the girls from Chibok. Boko Haram has killed over 11,000 people, and displaced some 1.5 million Nigerians just in the past five years.

A lot of things have happened in the past 13 months, in Nigeria and abroad. Nigeria has a new President, Muhammadu Buhari, who led the country 30 years ago after a military coup d'etat. Boko Haram has tried to kill Mr. Buhari, as well. They have kidnapped hundreds more Nigerian schoolgirls, who are also still missing. It is easy to become desensitized in a time like this; it is easy for one story to become just one story among so very many.

In March, Boko Haram swore allegiance to the Islamic State, or ISIL, which is perhaps the most dangerous and malicious terrorist group on earth. ISIL continues rampaging across the Middle East, raping, pillaging, and murdering innocents, including children. Many Syrian and Iraqi women are sold into sex slavery after being kidnapped by ISIL.

This past December, the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize was given to Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani teenage girl who was shot in the head by the Taliban for trying to go to school. She had published, under a male pseudonym, an online diary that expresses in chilling detail her desires to get an education, and the constant fear she must endure. One entry says, "I am sad watching my uniform, school bag and geometry box. I felt hurt on opening my wardrobe and seeing my uniform, school bag and geometry box. Boys' schools are opening tomorrow. But the Taliban have banned girls' education."

Thus far this year, as Co-Chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, I have held a hearing on human trafficking, and a hearing on ISIL. The Chibok kidnappings are particularly heartbreaking as an example of both of these modern scourges.

On March 4, I introduced a bipartisan bill that would allow the State Department to sanction non-state actors like Boko Haram. The people who are committing these violent atrocities against the human rights of women and minorities are generally groups like Boko Haram, ISIL, and the Taliban--not nation-states. My bill would also make some institutional changes at the State Department to prioritize international religious freedom efforts. I am hopeful that these new authorities will equip the State Department to help vulnerable people in countries like Nigeria.

This week, I signed on as a co-sponsor of the Girls Count Act, which will authorize the State Department to work with other countries and international organizations to issue birth certificates and national registries for children in developing countries. Lack of documentation disproportionately affects women in developing countries, and may keep them from participating fully in society. If they remain undocumented, they remain vulnerable, for example, to human traffickers, who can count on getting away with their crimes without a paper trail. I co-sponsored this legislation in the last Congress, and I continue to support it. As Co-Chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, I will continue to address the issues of human trafficking and the exploitation of women.

On Wednesday, marking exactly one year and one month since the Chibok kidnappings, I joined with colleagues of both parties, such as Representatives Frederica Wilson and Carolyn Maloney, to wear red for the girls kidnapped in Chibok.

We wore red because of the innocent blood that is spilled continually, and that cries out from the ground for justice. We wore red because the girls are still missing. We wore red because too many girls live in fear.

Source