Directed by Cynthia Hill, Drama/Documentary, English, 81 min, USA, 2014.
Thursday March 26th, 6:00 PM
Lesley University UH 2-150
Private Violence, directed by Cynthia Hill, is a feature-length documentary film and audience engagement campaign that explores a simple, but deeply disturbing fact of American life: the most dangerous place for a woman in America is her own home. Every day in the US, at least four women are murdered by abusive (and often, ex) partners. The knee-jerk response is to ask: “why doesn’t she just leave?” Private Violence shatters the brutality of this logic. Through the eyes of two survivors – Deanna Walters, a mother who seeks justice for the crimes committed against her at the hands of her estranged husband, and Kit Gruelle, an advocate who seeks justice for all women – we bear witness to the complicated and complex realities of intimate partner violence. Their experiences challenge entrenched and misleading assumptions, providing a lens into a world that is largely invisible; a world we have locked behind closed doors with our silence, our laws, and our lack of understanding. Kit’s work immerses us in the lives of several other women as they attempt to leave their abusers, setting them on a collision course with institutions that continuously and systematically fail them, often blaming victims for the violence they hope to flee. The same society that encourages women to seek true love shows them no mercy when that love turns dangerous. As Deanna transforms from victim to survivor, Private Violence begins to shape powerful, new questions that hold the potential to change our society: “Why does he abuse?” “Why do we turn away?” “How do we begin to build a future without domestic violence?”
Followed by discussion with Monisha Rios.
Monisha Rios is a disabled Army veteran, autoethnographer, clinical social worker, human rights advocate, and activist. As a witness to and survivor of military sexual violence in a variety of contexts, Monisha focuses most of her work on exposing and eradicating the problem in society, among the ranks, in armed conflict, and within communities directly impacted by the US military. Having incurred moral wounds from her military experiences, she strives to propel the conversation on Moral Injury beyond stereotypical, heterosexual, male combat narratives. Monisha will soon complete a PhD in Humanistic Psychology, specializing in Transformative Social Change at Saybrook University.
Accessibility Info:
The north, south, and parking lot entrances of University Hall are accessible, with curb cuts, level entrances, and automatic push plates to open the doors. The amphitheater has doors with adequate clearance space, but no push plates. The seats fold up and down. Most of the seating is in graduated rows that requires navigation of steps with no handrail. However, the first row of seats is at floor level. Wheelchair users can park and sit next first row of seats at floor level as well.
There are gender neutral bathrooms on the fourth floor which can be accessed through an elevator on the second floor. Ask for the guest elevator because you need a key card otherwise. In order to get an ASL interpreter, we need to know that someone in need of one will be in attendance in advance.