The Normalization of Rape in the Democratic Republic of...

Ruined by Lynn Nottage is a powerful play that narrates the nearly normalized issue of sexual violence against women and girls in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Nottage personally traveled to the DRC and interviewed the victimized women and created a play that is based on their stories. She composed a very powerful play that made its audience to become aware of tragic situations that take place in African countries today. Throughout the play, Nottage brings the reader to raise several questions, such as why did these vulnerable women become the target of violence and what drives militiamen to commit these crimes rather than protecting them. While war in the DRC already created unpleasant outcomes, such as poverty and corruption, it also created cruel type of a weapon, humiliation and rape of women beside the guns and bombs. Meger asserts in her article that the majority of the rape crimes involve gang rapes, â€Å"with an average of 4.5 attackers per victim,† and they also tend to be systematically preplanned (127). Women depicted in Ruined are examples of rape victims. Salima’s story in particular demonstrates how violent and unforgiving it can be out in there. She was gang raped when she was in her garden and her attackers even ended up killing her infant. Not only was she brutally assaulted, but also neglected and abandoned by her husband and the village, which left her nowhere to turn to. Salima sees Mama Nadi’s bar as a place to live, but in an entirely new way of