Country:Netherlands

Director:Femke and Ilse Van Velzen

Program:Contemporary World Cinema

Summary:

During the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s seven year war, more then 80.000 women and girls were raped. Fighting the Silence tells the story of ordinary women and men struggling to change their society: one that prefers to blame victims rather than prosecute rapists. Survivors tell of the brutality they experienced. Husbands talk of the pressures that led them to abandon their wives. A father explains why he has given up on his daughter’s future. Soldiers and policemen share their (shocking) views about why rape continues to flourish in the Congo despite the war having officially ended four years ago.