The other night I spent the evening screening two documentaries on the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which were focused on the extensive use of rape as a weapon of war in the countries long going conflict. The evening was centered around one of the DRC’s woman’s activists, Sylvie Maunga Mbanga, a trained lawyer, who has worked tirelessly with numerous organizations to fight against sexual violence.The rights of Congolese women and girls are violated daily as the continual rapes, abuse and killing of innocent women and children continue. It is thanks to those like Sylvie that the silence of this unspeakable abuse is beginning to be broken.

The room was silent despite the fact it was full, each face in the room was frozen with a look of immense captivation that was unbreakable. Many of those in the room soon found their eyes filling with tears as they heard the voices of women tell their stories of brutal rape…each one more haunting than the last…everyone horrific and unspeakable. Trembling voices who speak of gang rapes, amputations, murder, the callous faces of their attackers, the indescribable rape of their bodies with objects meant only to maim, mutilate and destroy. Women who have had their bodies and souls strategically attacked, who have been shunned and turned away from their families and all they knew, women whose tears of pain have become tears of strength as they find renewed courage in each other and the new family they have built from the tragedy of the war that was played out on their bodies.

As the voices faded in the videos and Sylvie took the center of the room to speak, the silence was broken with voices of support as these women on the other side of the world had now found their voice in Washington, DC. But this was not a room of dignitaries, lawyers and politicians…this was not an international conference, no the amazing part of this event is it was a mixed bag of professionals and students all gathered together in the living room of a Washington, DC town home. The braking of the silence began in the DRC and it will end here, in the voices of ordinary individuals, and thus I share one is reminded that the power to end conflict and violence begins with ending the silence and it starts with one voice, and as we open our ears, hearts and our minds each one of us can be the voice that helps to prevent the suffering of countless more women and girls in the DRC.

Please stay tuned as I will bring you an in depth interview with Sylvie Maunga Mbanga. Please also see my previous posts on the use of Rape as a Weapon of War and on the DRC.