NCJ Number
77466
Date Published
1980
Length
0 pages
Annotation
Appropriate for high school, college, and adult audiences, this documentary, narrated by a woman who was a rape victim, explores the scope and significance of rape.
Abstract
A common crime, rape is being committed with alarming frequency each year. It robs its victims of all dignity, can cause lasting physical and emotional harm -- including phobias, paranoia, deep depression, guilt, shame, and even suicide -- and can split up couples and destroy families. The film begins with an informative historical and social analysis of rape, showing how since ancient times rape has been used by both warped individuals and groups in social situations where lawlessness overwhelms reason and mercy -- as in wartime and in concentration camps. The film points out that today's popular culture, illustrated in commercials, record covers, and even department display windows, portrays the humiliation or bondage of women as a chic and acceptable theme, though such depictions can traumatize people, especially adolescents. The remainder of the film is devoted to an examination of the various sorts of rape victims: women of all ages, children of both sexes, and male and female inmates of prisons and mental institutions. The final segment shows what women are doing to protect themselves from this crime, with a women's self-defense center in New York City used as an example. Here women learn prevention techniques adapted from karate which allow a small person to practice self-defense against a larger person. Clothing which has been adapted with concealable weapons is even demonstrated, such as a cap with built-in ball bearings for hitting an assailant. The audience is made to understand that rape is violence, and only incidentally sexual in nature. (Author abstract modified)