Stop Raping Me: Congo
By Kyra O. Davenport
The begging question I ask myself is what can I do? I picture myself sitting next to a Congolese woman adorned in her tribal clothing sipping a cool drink like we are old girlfriends, she is opening up to me. She has been raped. She has accepted her experience and locked away the shame. I need to open that door. Come in. Let the world in. I belong in Africa . I am a woman, a journalist, I can make a difference. I’ve been stirred up. The recent headline in New York Times reads “Mass Rapes in Congo Republic of Congo-Four
This about more than stabilization of a nation, it’s about eradication of a culture putting women to shame, stripping them of their being. Deconstruction and reconstruction has to happen. The soldiers are predators. Rebels and soldiers are undoubtedly mute to women’s rights. Women are only vessels of domination and sick pleasure for these men; criminals. A battle is taking place, a struggle for self-worth and dignity, a chance just to be a woman, a human being. I feel the screams of these women. Souls are being damaged. Congolese women are being carried as a worst than subhuman. There are organizations that are joining the fight to save the virtue of Congolese women, now it is my turn, to write, expose the horror, I am going to Africa .
