MONTREAL – Off the top of her head, comedian Margaret Cho can easily think of twelve instances where she felt violated.
And she’s mad.
“I’ve experienced so many types of assault, and I wanted to put the stories out there,” Cho told Global News over the phone from her tour in Hawaii.
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Recently, Cho spoke out publicly about being molested by a family member as a child, and being raped again as a teenager.
She started the #12DaysOfRage campaign so that she could share her story in the build-up to the release of her new single I wanna kill my rapist.
“A lot of people, through this campaign, have direct messaged me and said ‘you’re the only one who knows,'” she said.
“I’m so honoured that they would share that with me.”
She said #12DaysOfRage mimics Montreal’s #BeenRapedNeverReported Twitter campaign that invites survivors of sexual assault to share their stories.
READ MORE: Thousands take to social media to share their stories #BeenRapedNeverReported
“I want to show the world how many of us there are, how many survivors there are – and not just women, but men,” said Cho.
“I was just so proud of Canada for exalting the survivors as opposed to siding with the abuser.”
On Twitter, Cho takes the time to write back to every survivor who shares their story with her to tell them how much she loves them.
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“What I encourage is that we murder the rapists inside our minds until they stop killing us,” she told Global News, adding that she would never encourage someone to actually kill their rapist.
“Sexual abuse leads to self-abuse and for me it was eating disorders, drug addiction, alcoholism, depression and suicide.”
“The abuser still lived inside me in nightmares. I had to visualize killing my rapist in my mind, in my heart. It’s a purge.”
Yes, the title of the song, I wanna kill my rapist, is strong and very in-your-face, but so is Cho’s comedy.
“If it goes too far, whatever, I don’t care because I’m healing myself,” she said.
“When I play the song live, I can feel some relief in the audience. There’s a lot of intense crying, which I’ve never experienced in a comedy show.”
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Her message to young people: think of your bodies as your own nation.
“If you cross my borders without a passport, there will be consequences,” she explained.
Her theory goes beyond the idea of consent and rape, branching into healthcare and abortion rights in the United States.
“They’re important enough to fly their own flag, to have their own pledge of allegiance to themselves,” she said.
Cho hasn’t completely healed from the abuse she suffered, and she admitted that may never happen, but she is ready to take her experience and turn it into something right.
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“I think for a lot of people, it’s hard, and healing is not linear,” she told Global News.
“For me, there’s no way that I can forget or forgive and that’s part of my problem. I have the inability to forgive what I consider unforgivable.”
The I wanna kill my rapist music video premieres on PerezHilton.com on Friday, Nov. 13.
The single is part of Cho’s second album.
rachel.lau@globalnews.ca
Follow @rachel_lau
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