Ah — the gulf between rhetoric and actual impact.This is...

Ah — the gulf between rhetoric and actual impact.

This is a screen grab of the UN's Stop Rape Now campaign against sexual violence in conflict zones. And that would be the UN's Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, making a gesture that says, "rape isn't cool!" The site encourages users to add their very own pics of themselves making this gesture.

So, I'm a communications professional - and I know that building awareness of issues, especially hard to stomach ones, is both important and challenging to do. More people should know about the fucked up things going on in our world, even if it makes them feel small and helpless.

But, person sitting comfortably in front of your computer in the global north… your tweets and uploaded pics aren't actually making sure that fewer people in the Congo get raped.

Good intentions aren't enough, and this campaign exists more for its online audience (affluent people in the global north) than it does for the 1,100 people being raped in the DRC every day.