Educational Media Reviews Online

This documentary defines rape and all forms of sexual assault from an historical and global perspective. Further, it asserts rape as the ultimate form of violence against women, as well as a violation of human rights. The purpose of the film is to educate the public and encourage political activism as a way of prevention. It is an adequate introduction to the seriousness of the topic for young people, and tool for raising public awareness.

Based upon four victims’ testimonies and expert interviews, the film refers to a wide spectrum of issues surrounding the topic: rape as a crime against humanity, acquaintance rape, sexual violence, pornography, sexually explicit media, sexual exploitation, as well as the variety of victim response: denial, anger, depression, coping mechanisms, and life-long trauma. The film also includes footage describing female victims of the sex trade, exploitation in South Asia and Southeast Asia, rape at the time of war in Bosnia and Rwanda, and Korean “comfort women.”

Most interviewees, though from various walks of life, have in common the experience of sexual assault. The titular poem, “Rape is . . .,”written by Salamishah Tillet, rape survivor and co-producer of the multimedia performance piece on rape, A Long Walk Home, is used as a recurring voice-over. Eve Ensler, rape survivor, activist, and author of The Vagina Monologues, explores the ideas of “V-day,” the global movement to stop violence against women and girls. Vednita Carter, founder and director of Breaking Free, an organization that provides services to prostitutes, speaks of her work experience, and finds a direct connection between prostitution and rape. Diane Rosenfeld, a Fellow at Harvard Law School and teacher in the Women's Studies Department there, provides basic structure to the film through a classroom lecture. Rich Ridlon, imprisoned for violent behavior, and himself a victim of childhood sexual abuse, offers his perspectives on the effects of rape, and the prison rape that he witnessed. Kathy Girod, a young woman raped at gunpoint, makes the psychological consequences of rape starkly evident through her testimony.

The sum of these components is less than each part for several reasons. The technical quality of the film is at best average, and the composition sometimes appears arbitrary, leaving unintended humor or a voyeuristic impression, as when the camera peeks through the window of a prison cell. While the film presents a strong overview from the viewpoint of the victim, its attempt to relate that to the larger human power structure, including the expression of offenders, is less strong, as the examination of the many of the issues raised is inevitably superficial, and sometimes confusing. Finally, there is the marked absence of a preventive and educational component, which is present in other films on rape such as Rethinking Rape (1986) by Jeanne M. LePage or Rape Culture (1983) by the same directors Lazarus and Wunderlich.

Read another EMRO review of this program at http://libweb.lib.buffalo.edu/emro/emroDetail.asp?Number=1140