Sin by Silence Olivia Klaus, USA, 2009, 49 minutes
Friday, May 14 | 2:00pm | Pacific Cinémathèque
“It starts with a backhand and ends with a gun in your face,” is how one of the inmates in the California Institution for Women explains the process of abuse. Of the millions of women subject to violence and death at the hands of their husbands and partners, a few fight back. After enduring years of broken bones, skull fractures and bloody bruises, Brenda Clubine killed her husband and was sentenced to 17 years in prison. When Brenda decided to write a letter to the Governor of California asking for help to form a women’s group, she had little idea that her desire to create a place where women could tell their stories would have such an enormous impact. The first inmate initiated and led group in US prison history, Convicted Women Against Abuse (CWAA) was formed in 1989. Olivia Klaus’ film makes a powerful indictment of a justice system that further victimizes women who have already suffered years of brutality and pain. Battered Women’s Syndrome is currently recognized as legitimate defense, but many of the women in CWAA were convicted prior to 1982 and are serving life sentences. As one lawyer says, “These women are in prison because of the process, not because of their cases, not because of the facts of their cases.”
Many of the members of CWAA have eerily similar experiences, including men who kept them isolated, physically and mentally beaten, systematically removing every source of support, until the only way to protect themselves and their kids was to strike back. Glenda Crosley, a white-haired grandmotherly woman, who ran over her abusive husband with her car after he threatened her with a tire iron is a typical case. But nothing brings the reality of these cases to agonizing life as much as a single 911 call made by a little girl, whose father is busy beating her mother. The shriek of terror and pain from this anonymous child brings all the statistics home. The process of becoming strong enough to tell their stories was only the beginning, and the women of CWAA are committed to helping each other become organized, powerful and finally free.
Discussion to follow with:
Rosa Elena Arteaga Manager of Direct Services, Battered Women Support Services Rosa Elena Arteaga has been working in the anti-violence field for over twelve years. Rosa Elena has worked as a crisis worker andtransition house worker providing counselling and advocacy for women escaping violence. She has been delivering workshops on violence against women in the community and providing training. Rosa Elena has been a presenter in different conferences such as the Women’s Resistance: From Victimization to Criminalization Conference in Ottawa. Rosa Elena is currently working at BWSS as the Manager of Direct Services and Programs.
"Justice is the right to live in a world that allows to meet our needs as human beings, one being equality."
Monica Nijjar Victim Services Worker, WAVAW
Monica Nijjar is a feminist working for WAVAW (Women Against Violence
Against Women, Rape Crisis Centre) as a victim services worker. Through her
work she supports women as they contextualize their personal experiences of
men's violence within the public institutions of medicine and criminal
justice. Monica believes "that feminism is a way to fight for justice,
always in short supply" (Barbara Strickland).
"Do not hold to the fallacy that justice is only offered up by criminal codes and administered by judges. It exists everywhere; when we choose to use our voices."
Sarah Rauch Director of UBC First Nations Legal Clinic and Prisoner Advocate
Sarah J. Rauch is both the Director and Supervising Lawyer for the University of British Columbia First Nations Legal Clinic, and a solo practitioner in Vancouver. The First Nations Legal Clinic is a full term clinical program for law students that provides legal services to Aboriginal people from its location in the downtown eastside of Vancouver. Her private practice includes criminal defence for adult and youth, prisoners’ rights, and Charter litigation. Her prison advocacy work includes representation of women in federal prison regarding disciplinary offences, involuntary transfer, segregation, classification, and parole. Many of these women identify as lesbian, bisexual or transgendered, and many are Aboriginal, have histories of abuse, poverty, and have diagnoses of mental illness or cognitive limitations. Sarah earned a BA degree in 1998 from UBC in the general studies program with an emphasis on Anthropology, English and Women’s studies. She graduated from the Faculty of Law at UBC in 2001. "Let's think of justice as relations."
“Sin By Silence sparks important conversations and squashes that voice in your head that tells you nothing like this could ever happen to you.”
– Film Arcade
Director’s biography
Olivia Klaus began her career with extensive travel throughout Central and South America, gathering stock footage and interviews. She has been creative director with Avant Productions since 2003 and is adjunct professor in the Cinema and Digital Media department at Vanguard University of Southern California. In 2004, Klaus created Quiet Little Place Productions with a group of colleagues devoted to producing innovative and vibrant stories for screen, stage, page, and the web. Sin by Silence is the company’s first film endeavor. For the past eight years, Klaus attended Convicted Women Against Abuse meetings and built close relationships with each of the women featured in the documentary.
When Namrata Gill married her husband, she thought she was living a fairytale. But when her dream turned into a nightmare of violence and pain, Namrata made a decision. Director Shazia Javed’s film packs a serious punch as well as a message of strength and self-determination.
Director’s biography
Shazia Javed is a writer, filmmaker and photographer. After earning degrees in English literature and Mass Communications in New Delhi, Javed went on to direct several short films on health and human rights for broadcast and community action. She moved to Canada in 2004, settling in Edmonton. Namrata is her first film with the National Film Board.
Javed says that, no matter the medium, her work "always reflects the social realities around me."
Rosa Elena Arteaga
Sarah Rauch
