Dear First Lady Obama,
First, let me congratulate you on your hard work that resulted in electing President Obama to the White House. I feel as if the heavy heart that has throbbed inside my chest for the past eight years is easing up, and I now carry a smidgen of hope in my pocket that I pull out and look at on a regular basis.

I am writing to you today about an issue that is of the utmost importance to me.

Women are being raped, mutilated, and killed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo every day. Many of them are so horrifically injured that their reproductive and excretory organs will never return to normal function. In addition, they carry the shame of rape that Congolese society brands them with: they wear a scarlet letter. Their husbands shun them, and many retreat to the woods to live out their lives as hermits.

All is not hopeless, however. Women are forming support groups where they may come together and share their stories, and in sharing, feel that they are not alone. The women of the DRC are formidable, and I have faith that, as their sisters in Rwanda have done, they will organize themselves politically. Rwanda's parliament is now 46 percent women, and women are making the difference

It was Marx that said that the "hand that rocks the cradle rules the world," and this is my hope for Congolese women. That they will take back their country and make it a place where women are safe and oh-so-powerful.

The women need help, however. President Kabila needs to be nudged to prosecute this war crime of mass rape. Hospitals to repair the women's torn bodies need to be built so that more women can be stitched back together. Dr. Mukwege, of the Panzi hospital has devoted his life to repairing the physical damage. And in his words, "C'est un catastrophe."

Ms. Obama, more needs to be done. We need to send people who can offer assistance to this women: psychological care, pressure on President Kabila to prosecute the men who rape; safe zones where women and children are free from the daily terror of roving bands of paramilitaries and armies who are using rape as a weapon of terror, of attempting to destroy the social fabric of the DRC.

I know that we are facing many issues of import right now. But I can't sleep at night. I have two daughters, and I tremble when I think of how my daughters could be in a different time and place where their lives are worth less simply because they are women.

Today, I'm teaching a teach-in at my college, bringing this issue to the attention of my campus. My great hope is that we, as a community, will discover ways that we can help.

I am asking you to join us. I am asking you to make sexual violence against women a platform issue that you are willing to take on and bring America's attention to. I believe that Americans care about these issues, and that they would open their hearts to these women if they could see their suffering.

I do not know if you would consider a trip to the Congo to witness yourself the power of these women. I hope that you will take it under advisement.

I thank you for presenting to my daughters a role model. I thank you for making it possible to write this letter.

Thank you.
With all best wishes,
Lorraine  Berry