Stop Rape

Sexual assault is wrong. There is no clever angle to take, no mathematical metaphor to propose, no stunning desert photographs to illustrate it. So there isn’t much I can add to the growing internet chorus against it.

Sheril Kirshenbaum has launched a cyber-attack on sexual assault. Focusing on aid to conflict-ravaged African countries where rape persists, she’s gotten an impressive number of people to donate their revenue to the cause.

I don’t have much to add here. This blog is ad free, so donating my income from it is a meaningless gesture. And I don’t have much silence to break; although I did my PhD in a research group in which male students and technicians were harassed, I escaped with nothing more serious than getting my ass grabbed.

But I would like to point something out for any geology students interested in economic geology and social justice: When a conflict ends, resource companies are often the first large companies back on the ground in war-torn third world countries. A woman I studied with has worked in several of the countries highlighted in Kristof's article. The degree to which companies invest in the social fabric of the countries in which they operate is highly variable. But for those of you who want to make a concrete and positive impact on war torn African countries, exploration geology is one way to get into their economies.

There is more to life than post-docs.

Médecins Sans Frontières- Australia
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