By Pascale Bourgaux
This hard-hitting film is the first to cover the shocking story of sexual harassment and rape of American female soldiers. The Pentagon acknowledges that it received more than three thousand reports of sexual mistreatment in 2006 alone. These female soldiers were not attacked by the combat enemies, but rather by colleagues and supervisors in their own platoons.
Though the number of reported sexual assaults has skyrocketed over the past several years, the number of convictions has remained static: only 2 percent of accused rapists are ever court-martialed. The combined trauma of sexual abuse and combat appears to bear correlation to the results of a 2008 RAND study, which indicate that female veterans suffer twice the rate of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder as their male counterparts.
Though a culture of fear, secrecy, and hopelessness prohibits many women from speaking out, Rape in the Ranks shares the story of four young women and their families brave enough to talk openly about their ordeals. Unable to stand the nightmarish daily rapes by her commander in Iraq, Suzanne refused to report back for mission and was subsequently court-martialed. Jessica was raped in the United States and Korea and left the service, yet hopes to return and bring her attackers to justice. Stephanie has come to regret never reporting her own rape, hence perpetuating the culture of silence. Tina, who was raped in Iraq, supposedly "killed herself," but her mother remains convinced she was murdered. This film recounts the stories of their pain, shame, and uphill battle for justice.
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