The Invisible War

The Invisible War is a devastatingly eye-opening experience that exposes us to this sad truth: there is a secret epidemic of rape running rampant throughout all of the branches the U.S. military.

Careful not to cast the armed forces, as a whole, in a negative light, The Invisible War focuses on a handful of women – and one man – from the U.S. Coast Guard, Army, Navy, Air Force, and the Marines who share their stories of being raped by their fellow service members, and their subsequently traumatic treatment from both their superiors and the VA after they’ve been reported – which, unconscionably, seem to be even worse than the physical assaults themselves.

Filmmakers Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering paint an appalling portrait of how the current judicial system within the military is broken, causing the overwhelming need to protect the unit to trump the needs of the individuals during one of the most brutal, violating experiences of their lives. The statistics that they provide throughout the film are staggering, almost hard to believe. But nearly all come directly from studies by the U.S. Department of Defense itself. Stats such as in 2011, there were 3,192 sexual assaults reported; yet, only 191 military members were convicted. Even more stunning is the estimate that 80 percent of sexual assault goes unreported, turning the inexcusable gap between the number of assaults and the number of convictions into a chasm of unfathomable proportions.

These women’s stories show that rape doesn’t end with the physical assault, the injustice and violation continues from the very people in whom service members trust wholly: their unit and their military. The ensuing cover-ups, charges against the women for adultery (when their alleged rapists were married, not themselves) coupled with a lack of charges against their perpetrators, blame falling on the victim’s shoulders, and outright denial of medical benefits for their injuries depict shattering injustice on levels that seem just impossible to comprehend. That, even more than the sexual trauma itself, has been what has truly shattered these people’s lives, pushing many to addiction, depression, and even suicide.

Not a disparaging documentary with an agenda of being anti-military, quite the contrary The Invisible War exposes this injustice through the numerous stories of current and former service members in order to improve the proud institution that is our military, not to demonize it. And while it can hardly be considered uplifting, it comes to the conclusion that there are ways to fix this situation, and presents those as viable options. In fact, current defense secretary Leon Panetta saw the film in April and has already taken steps toward improving the manner in which sexual assaults are reported and investigated with the military.

The Invisible War is not only a powerful, important documentary, but also a timely piece of groundbreaking journalism, telling a story that up until now has been relegated to a few scandals on the nightly news over the past twenty years, and a Salon.com article. It’s a film that everyone should see.