VOICES OF VIOLENCE

In the DR Congo, women are systematically exposed to the brutal practice of rape as a weapon of war. A film about unimaginable violence and a political and social system that turns a blind eye to these atrocities.

A film about the unimaginable violence to which women in the DR Congo are subjected and a political and social system that turns a blind eye to these atrocities. Women are systematically exposed to the brutal practice of rape as a weapon of war. The director Claudia Schmid spent several months travelling through the Democratic Republic of Congo, meeting women in the most remote villages of rebel territories and winning their trust. In the course of long, intensive talks, the women disclose their traumatic experiences for the first time. They recount how they were attacked, abducted and abused, how they were able to escape from the rebel camps and why their lives continued to feel like hell even after they returned to their villages. They are ostracised by their own communities, and rejected by their husbands. Family members are asked about their perspectives and about the discrimination and shame they experience in their own community. The director also asks Congolese men about their notion of rights and the obligations of both sexes. The film brings together stories of violence experienced by various women from one village. Their voices come together like a kind of chorus, its crescendos determining the dramatic structure of the film.