The Invisible War

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Today a female soldier in Iraq or Afghanistan is more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire. The Invisible War explores this epidemic of rape in the U.S. military, looking at the impact not just on survivors of sexual assault but on the larger systems in which they are embedded. Following the screening will be a panel discussion with two women featured extensively in the film, moderated by BCRW Associate Director Catherine Sameh, and UN Women’s Metro NY president, Cheryl Benton, will introduce the film.

The event will also feature a very short presentation by Nancy Schwartzman who will be introducing her smart phone app to prevent sexual violence, Circleof6.

Brigadier General Loree K. Sutton is the highest ranking psychiatrist in the U.S. Army, and has served as director of the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE) since November 2007. She also serves as special assistant to the assistant secretary of defense for health affairs.

Helen Benedict is a novelist and journalist specializing in issues of social justice. Her most recent nonfiction book is The Lonely Soldier: The Private War of Women Serving in Iraq, which won the Exceptional Merit In Media Award from the National Women’s Political Caucus and the Ken Book Award in 2010. It also inspired a lawsuit against the Pentagon and Defense Secretaries Rumsfeld and Gates on behalf of women and men who were sexually assaulted while in the military.

Catherine Sameh (moderator) is Associate Director of the Barnard Center for Research on Women and managing editor of The Scholar & Feminist Online. Her work at BCRW draws on her expertise on transnational feminist activism developed in her dissertation, “Signatures, Rights, Networks: Iranian Feminism in the Transnational Sphere.” Before entering academia, Catherine co-founded In Other Words Women’s Books and Resources and was active in the reproductive justice movement in Portland, Oregon.

Cheryl Benton is the CEO of 747 Marketing, as well as the president of the Metro NY Chapter of UN Women. She is on the board of the non-profit Unleashed New York and on the advisory boards of Partnership with Children and Self-Chec.