Last night I attended an Intimate Partner Violence and Sexual Assault
Speak Out, where people across campus from the LGBT community and
coalitions of color came together in one sacred space to share their
stories with strangers. For many, including me, it was the first time we
spoke out publicly. It was empowering. It was liberating. Rarely do I
let myself shed tears over my repressed memories, yet I cried over every
In the Democratic Republic of Congo or DRC, sexual violence is a community-wide problem. Rape, in the DRC has been used as a weapon of war and sadly continues to increase even after. According to the peacebuilding NGO Search for Common Ground or SFCG, it is estimated that there are over 400,000 surviving rape victims living in the DRC today. In this environment violence against women has become normative behavior.
“Stop hitting me,” “Please help,” and “Abuse is wrong” were just a few phrases painted and scribbled onto T-shirts by victims of sexual and domestic abuse to express how it felt to go through that pain.
The shirts are part of the Clothesline Project and were on display at Lane College on Wednesday.
The Hunting Ground Is Shifting the Culture on Campuses
Despite the white noise campaign to discredit, there has been tremendous and unprecedented progress in new campus policies and regulations. The backlash claims that some of the campus rape date was exaggerated or simply false has been disproved over and over again.