Violence Against Women: A Feminist Study of Women’s Situation during the Civil War of the Democratic Republic of Congo in Lynn Nottage's Ruined.

The Democratic Republic of Congo is recognized as “the rape capital of the world.” (UN-news center) During the Civil War in Congo, rape and sexual assault had applied as potent weapons to attain military and economical purposes. The sexual violence perpetrated against women had been brutal, and it had resulted in physical and social destruction and psychological trauma. Nottage’s choice to set Ruined in the Democratic Republic of Congo was guided by the severe attitude towards women during the civil war, portraying the female characters as the victims of the war. The study is a brief description of women's situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo. However, it concerns of how the female playwright Lynn Nottage depicts Congolese women’s social struggles, psychological traumas, and physical destruction. The research also discusses the motives and the purposes of writing about a sensitive subject as the violence against women. Consequently, it applies a feminist reading of the text, and it is supported by numerous academic journals, books, articles, and reports from international organizations. It concludes that Lynn Nottage succeeded in presenting the violence against women on stage.