The Greatest Silence
On April 8, 2008, activists and viewers across the country watched the HBO premier of The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo, a shocking exposé of a decade-old epidemic of kidnapping, rape and torture of women and girls in the civil war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). ENOUGH, HBO and our partners teamed up to coordinate and organize home screenings across the U.S. to view and discuss the film together.
Watch the official trailer for "The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo."
Listen to filmmaker Lisa F. Jackson; Director of Public Policy at the International Family Violence Prevention Fund, Keirsten Stewart; and ENOUGH Co-Chair, John Prendergast discuss the film and what you can do to help end violence against women.
Download ENOUGH's Congo card to learn more about the current situation in eastern Congo.
Sign up for email updates on the latest deveopments in the Congo.
About the Film:
THE GREATEST SILENCE: RAPE IN THE CONGO documents filmmaker Lisa F. Jackson’s journeys to the war zones of eastern Congo to find survivors willing to bear witness to their experiences and break that silence. It is a film at once political and profoundly personal for Jackson, who was herself gang-raped by three men in Washington, D.C. at age 25. She shares her experience with the women she interviews, and they ask her, “Was there a war in your country?” As evidence of her commitment to the film and the stories of these women, Jackson traveled alone to the DRC and performed all production functions (producer, director, DP, sound) while there.
With THE GREATEST SILENCE: RAPE IN THE CONGO, Jackson challenges audiences to wonder what dark forces are at work in a world that has allowed more than 250,000 women and girls to suffer such atrocities without offering them either solace or justice. Economic greed seems to be one factor: Criminal groups appear to be fanning the flames of civil war in order to perpetuate chaos and instability in the region while they plunder eastern Congo’s natural riches of diamonds,
gold and coltan – a metal used in cell phones and laptops – for personal profit. As many of the people in the film attest, systematic rape is an effective way to destroy the very foundations of a society. But why are those in power – including powerful nations like the U.S. –
not doing more to prevent the rapes?
Family Violence Prevention Fund
International Rescue Committee
Mennonite Central Committee U.S. Washington Office
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism
United Methodist General Board of Church and Society
