Kristof asks if identifying a 9-year old rape survivor is ever okay. Um no.

Kristof-drama! (For all you non-nerds Kristof is a reporter/op-ed writer with the NYT who writes two weekly columns. He's also an author and has MAJOR celebrity status, particularly for his work on Darfur.)

I adore Kristof and I think he's done some incredible work but sometimes he gets on the soapbox/high-horse and forgets to come on down to the rest of us.

See K's recent piece on a family who sold their house in order to donate half the money to charity as a good example. Kristof is right that philanthropy and volunteer-work are a fun sexy time but I think most of us read this article, rolled our eyes and moved on. To be fair I actually (prematurely) rolled my eyes at the title: "What Could You Live Without?" Um, almost everything? Including my super-deluxe snuggie? Not the point Kristof!

But I digress.

Kristof's signature move is keeping his writing "personal"-usually picking one person to represent a massive humanitarian problem/conflict/war etc...The idea is that we have more empathy when we aren't overwhelmed by facts and numbers, thereby making us more inclined to actually care. This theory definitely has a lot of weight to it and he wrote an interesting article for Outside Mag on it (note: you get a little taste of his poor judgement in there, also the article is called "How to save the world" so do with that what you will). For all you fellow nerds, there is some actual data crammed in and it does make some relevant points.

However Kristof recently took this to a whole new (scary) level. In a recent op-ed on the DRC he writes about a nine-year old orphan and rape survivor. This is not new for Kristof as he is a huge fan of the "AFRICA IS SCARY" style of reporting (the genius' over at Wronging Rights refer to this phenomenon as "Africa:Land of Rape and Lions"). And don't forget that Kristof loves to "make things personal", but K did ya have to print her real NAME and ohmygod her PHOTO? Did I mention he tells us she contracted an STI? And just for good measure K reminds us in the very same piece that "most raped women are rejected by their husbands, and raped girls like [her]have difficulty marrying"Are you all WTF-ing to your computer screens yet?

Take a peek at the online wrestling match that ensued here here and here . (A bunch of other respectable blogs and journalists also joined in but you'll just have to ask me for those links if you are so inclined). Here's Kristofs response on his blog. He basically defends his decision with the following:
-Her guardian gave consent!
-People don't care and won't put rape on the agenda if I don't tell them her name, favorite color, best friends name....!
-Where she lives, NO ONE has internet or access to the news! So seriously guys, don't worry about it!
-(And then there was some bizarre point about journalists and aid workers being on different sides about HIV or something. In all honestly I think he thought the post was too short and had to beef it up.)

Dear Nick Kristof,

-No. Just no. This nine-year old survivor is unable to make this decision and her guardian should not be able to make it for her. Kristof- a huge supporter of womens rights (he just wrote a whole book on womens issues), has to know that only the survivor can consent. By giving her guardian that power he effectively disenfranchised her in the worst way and possibly put her at massive risk for stigma and all the AWESOME things that come along with it. (Just in case you haven't done any Kristof-reading lately that would include things like verbal and physical harassment) So therefore no. End. Of. Story. Incredibly irresponsible journalism.
- Um. Rape IS on the agenda. People care. In fact I believe it's on the US "Agenda" now more than ever. Here is an article that Wronging Rights posted from the NYT to show us a little about this new "agenda". In any event if it were true that rape was not on this magical "agenda", I'm not sure this 9-year old should have to pay the price.
-Well K, we all know how slowly the interweb moves. Along with word of mouth. So.
-I'm not even addressing this one.