Why? Sexual Violence and Teens, Daniel Sterk, courtesy of the National Film Board of Canada
For Daniel Sturk, the #MeToo movement has provided a new vocabulary for familiar experiences.
For a woman and mother of four daughters, it was satisfying to see public discussions about catcalling, unwanted touching, upskirting, seduction and rape. Yet she noticed that one set of voices was largely absent from the conversation.
“Ninety-eight per cent of sexual assaults are committed by men,” says Sturk, citing Statistics Canada data on police-reported sexual assaults. “We seem to be pretty comfortable accepting that it’s done to women … but we’re not very comfortable saying that it’s a gendered issue in terms of who’s doing the violence.”
Marta Guerrero for La Liberté
Directed by Daniel Sterk
So the Winnipeg-based French-Manitoban filmmaker set out to start a dialogue.
Sterk’s new film, Why?seeks explanations for the gendered nature of sexual violence through candid interviews with young men and women.
Although she initially intended to focus on male high school students—since the majority of reported victims of sexual assault are under the age of 18—it was difficult to find schools and subjects willing to participate. Sterk also realized that female survivors were a necessary piece of the puzzle.
“I knew I had to contextualize it,” she says. “It was really relevant to hear their stories because they were quite diverse, which gave us more insight into how (sexual abuse) works in different ways.”
The bilingual documentary features six individuals – three men and three women – between the ages of 19 and 21. For 39 minutes, the interviewees talk about their personal experiences with sexual violence. Inequality quickly emerges.
While women share first-hand accounts of street harassment, intimate partner violence and non-consensual contact, men discuss the subject at hand – second-hand stories from girlfriends, situations that played out at parties, behaviors they had witnessed. There is empathy, but also resignation that the world is just the way it is.
Sterk emphasizes these differences with visual effects. The male subjects are filmed in classic documentary-style interviews, and the women’s stories are presented as a narrative superimposed on animated black-and-white photographs.
“It’s a little staccato,” Sturk says of the latter’s stop-motion style. “Which to me reflects the feeling of dissociation that occurs when you’re sexually assaulted or have some kind of trauma — kind of separated from your body.”
National Film Board of Canada Unlike the young women’s first-hand accounts, the young men’s contributions were at their fingertips: stories they heard, behavior they witnessed.
This approach is particularly effective when both groups share their thoughts on public spaces. The men are photographed in sunny parks and on quiet riverbanks, places they visit to relax and get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. The camera then pans to a dark downtown street where the women talk about the pitfalls of walking alone and the fear of strangers.
“As a parent, watching my daughters start not going to certain places, not going to certain universities, not going to certain parties … I started to see their worlds get smaller and smaller,” says Sterk . “While this film shows all the spaces that people feel so comfortable in; they own the world.”
Although young men and women participated Why? have very different experiences of sexual abuse, Sturck sees them as equal victims of the root cause.
The answer to the film’s central question of why women and girls are more likely to be victims, while men and boys are more likely to be aggressors, boils down to toxic masculinity, a social norm that creates suffering for both parties, Sterk says.
“These young men didn’t like that their friends were causing them such pain,” she says. “As witnesses and bystanders to sexual assault, they are also touched by it and affected by it, obviously not in the same way, but they are also part of the problem and the solution.”
Why? is available online for free through the National Film Board of Canada (wfp.to/nfbwhy). Sturk hopes that male viewers will be inspired to speak out and address the issue of gender-based sexual violence. While the film focuses on the experiences of young people, adults are a key target audience – especially those in power.
“How can we go in there and help these young people create safe spaces? It’s our responsibility as adults,” says Sturk, adding that he sees schools as important places for change. “I really think our province needs to move forward and ensure that teaching … about sexual assault prevention happens in schools.”
National Film Board of Canada The young women interviewed share first-hand accounts of street harassment, intimate partner violence and non-consensual contact.
From her experience showing the film in classrooms, students are prepared for such difficult conversations.
“The boys were hooked,” she says. “Let’s hear and see the boys talk about it – it’s so powerful.”
eva.wasney@winnipegfreepress.com
Twitter: @evawasney
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