In 2006, Charlotte Campbell Stephens, an Australian woman working in Kenya, was brutally gang raped.
In 2015, filmmaker Judy Rymer’s documentation of the following seven years will kick off the Human Rights Arts And Film Festival in Melbourne after receiving critical acclaim around the world. ‘I Will Not Be Silenced’ follows Stephens’s strenuous battle with the Kenyan court system and the surrounding societal issues that exist in contemporary African culture, and is a piece that lies close to Rymer’s heart.
“Charlotte came into my office and spoke of her story in such a frank and honest way that it stuck in my mind for some time,” says Rymer. “She then issued a press release stating the continuation of the court case and I said to my partner Lois - ‘we have to make this film.’ We initially thought we would be shooting to the conclusion of the case but we had no idea it would take this long, what with all the postponements of the case, so we spent about three to four years coming and going and trying to pick the best times for us to go over there.”One aspect of the film that Rymer feels particularly strongly about is its ability to open up a discussion, both in Kenya and in Australia, on rape and its legacy in both countries. “I think this film shows how undiscussed rape is in the Kenyan community, despite being so systemic in the culture,” Rymer says, “because you see the flip side of being raped is that if you bring it to anyone’s attention you immediately become untouchable, and what we feared when going on our research trips in the slums is that the people we were talking to would think we were ‘pointing the finger’ at their way of life. The Australian legal system has a very revived attitude to sexual violence, however it’s still a very difficult exercise for a woman to prosecute a rape in our community, and that’s something that we wanted to convey.”
{youtube}tTIFGvIBHhI{/youtube}
The film is filled with reminders of this lack of discussion, including a section where an incredulous Kenyan woman asks Charlotte ‘is it true that a white woman can be raped?’, a statement that Rymer sees as one of the more telling interactions in the piece. “Within the Kenyan community frank discussions about sexual matters are not held between white women and Kenyan women and so the fact that Charlotte took her plight into the slums and discussed it so frankly was a very unusual thing for a white woman to do within that African context,” says Rymer, “and I think she has really spread a growing awareness about the need for women and girls to speak up, as well as proving you can get justice through the court system.”
As a vehicle of change, Rymer is cautious to predict how much of a difference the film may bring about at a grassroots level in Kenya. “I think educating men really comes through the actions of the women and pressure on communities and the justice system. Many men in Kenya are working very hard to change the fairly hot-wired attitudes, including the Chief Justice who is in the process of setting up a pilot court to exclusively treat cases of sexual violence, but within Australian audiences the reaction has been very strong. People have been so appalled by the unbelievable lengths of time and effort she [Charlotte] had to put in and moved by the Kenyan woman coming to support her that I do think it has made some contribution to bring about change.”
These topics are not always pleasant to research or view, Rymer observes, but it is within these subjects she finds the strongest characters and most inspiring tales. “Following people who are engaging in challenging and difficult things is, I believe, beneficial to all of us. Charlotte is one of those people and I always question whether I would have had her courage. I have to say seeing her in some of the particularly stressful periods I’m not sure I would’ve. I think her lack of self-pity makes her a really good example for others who have maybe experienced the same things and need to know there are champions on their side.”
‘I Will Not Be Silenced’ screens at the Human Rights Arts And Film Festival.
THE HUMAN RIGHTS ARTS AND FILM FESTIVAL
Fri 22 - Mon 25 May – Palace Electric Cinema (Canberra)Tues 26 - Sat 30 May – Dendy Cinema Newtown (Sydney)
Sat 30 May - Mon 1 June – Deckchair Cinema (Darwin)
Tues 2 - Thurs 4 June – Brisbane Powerhouse
Tues 2 - Thurs 4 June – Cinema Paradiso (Perth)
Fri 5 - Sun 7 June – Totem Theatre (Alice Springs)
