***Originally posted in May 2011 on the Nobel Women’s Initiative blog for the Women Forging a New Security: Ending Sexual Violence in Conflict conference.***

The official Twitter hashtag for our conference has been #endrapeinwar. As much as we wish that everyone in the world understood the realities of rape in the specific context of war, sadly we know that many do not. If we all understood the horrors of rape in war, it is hard to imagine that anyone could continue to use it as a tactic of war nor that it would be used on such a large scale.

The recent coverage we’ve had in the Ottawa Citizen and The Globe and Mail, among others, have offered a great starting point but we are craving more. To generate more discussion on what rape as a tactic of war really means, we solicited quick and easy ways of explaining the issues by asking our many wonderful Twitter and Facebook followers.

In 140 characters or less, how would you explain how and why rape is being used as a weapon in the context of war and conflict? Imagine trying to explain it to someone who has never engaged with such topics before. How can we explain why so many of us are here at this conference and so many more are following along online? We want widespread understanding of what rape in war really means and why it must end. Scratch that: we need widespread understanding and we need it to end. Now.

Here are some of the great responses we’ve collected so far:

Leave a comment if you have any other ideas that would help explain rape in war. Let’s spread these messages and help more people to understand why ending rape in war is one of the most important causes of our time.