This op-ed originally appeared on Politico.
I learned about the conflict in Congo because Javier Bardem was under the weather. Javier was supposed to join John Prendergast, co-founder of the Enough Project, at a screening of "The Greatest Silence," a film showcasing the use of rape as a weapon of war by militias in Congo, but he was too sick to attend. I was the last-minute replacement.
While the film was playing, John and I sat outside on the sidewalk and he told me what was going on in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. It is the deadliest conflict in the world since World War II. It has been described as the worst place in the world to be a woman. And there are links between people in the U.S. and what helps to fund this war.
As the film was wrapping up, John asked me to come on stage with him and summarize what I had just learned. There was no acting on that stage. I was strongly reacting to what I had just heard and knew that I would not let it go.
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