The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo

About the Project

Since 1998 a brutal war has been raging in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Over 4 million people have died. And there are the uncountable casualties: the many tens of thousands of women and girls who have been systematically kidnapped, raped, mutilated and tortured by soldiers from both foreign militias and the Congolese army. The world knows nothing of these women. Their stories have never been told. They suffer and die in silence. In the documentary film, The Greatest Silence: Rape in Congo, these brave women finally speak.

Emmy Award winning producer/director Lisa F. Jackson spent 2006 in the war zones of eastern DRC documenting the tragic plight of women and girls in that country’s intractable conflict. She was afforded privileged access to not only the grotesque realities of life in Congo (including interviews with self-confessed rapists) but also to examples of resiliency, resistance, courage and grace. Jackson was herself gang raped in 1976 and shared her experience with the survivors she interviewed. These women in turn recount their stories with an honesty and immediacy pulverizing in its intimacy and detail. The film is a journey into a literal heart of darkness, a search for survivors who pay witness to their own experiences, and break the silence.

Background, context and opinion are provided by interviews with peacekeepers, politicians, activists, doctors and priests. But above all there is the wrenching testimony from dozens of survivors of sexual violence who recount stories of chilling barbarity. This film gives them dignity, a face and a voice that will finally break the silence that surrounds their plight.

The Fledgling Fund Impact

The Fledgling Fund provided finishing funds for this film and took on an executive producer role because we believe that this is a powerful film that gives voice to women who otherwise would not be heard. The women profiled in the film have been victims of sexual violence at the hands of foreign militias and the Congolese Army. We not only have an opportunity to hear their stories but also to hear from those who perpetrate this violence. We are hopeful that this film will become a vehicle for great understanding of this issue both in the Congo and the larger international community.