Educational Media Reviews Online

In this documentary, the horror and life-long consequences of rape are thoroughly conveyed through victim accounts, counselor interviews and expert testimonies. As victims tell their rape stories, we can feel their pain.

This film defines rape as an act encompassing many types of sexual violence including marital and date rape, war crimes, and the assault of children in their homes. Rape also includes the rapes of runaways and prison inmates. Basically rape is defined as sex without consent and is the most underreported crime.

Victims speak on camera as to how they survived the experience. Victims report that rape is a killing of the spirit as well as damage to the body. Eve Ensler, creator of The Vagina Monologues, tells of her experiences as a child victim of rape. She says that women have been trained from birth not to love their bodies, thus making them more vulnerable to abuse. Eve spent 37 years of her life attempting to recover her self-esteem.

Another victim talks of her rape experience and how she handled it. She experienced fear and overpowering humiliation that still endures. Her anger has imploded over the years into a depression.

Rape can be a factor in crime. One male inmate tells of how he was raped by an uncle and then sexually abused others. He tells of the gang rape in prisons that often causes the suicide of first-time inmates.

Pornography and prostitution also promote rape. Experts claim that rapists use pornography as training. One expert claims that we are living in a rape culture that is promoted by the media. We are surrounded by media images that normalize rape and sexual images of women in pain. Movies such as Pretty Woman glamorize the horror of prostitution. Prostitution usually starts with sexual abuse at home.

Millions of women are victimized for money and power. Through a personal account, we learn of the many Korean women who were sent to China to supposedly make clothing for the war. Here the women were repeatedly raped until they were unable to even bear children.

Despite its sad subject matter, this powerful documentary presents hope for a better future by spreading the message of an antidote to rape and violence. Experts say the first step to ending rape and violence is getting women to think there can be a world where women are not always subject to sexual violence. One step is to let women and girls know they have rights.

This film is highly recommended for women of all ages, men, teenage males, as well as counselors and those working with sexual assault victims.

For more info see the Web site rapeis.org

Read another EMRO review of this program at http://libweb.lib.buffalo.edu/emro/emroDetail.asp?Number=1132