Silenced | Dir: Selina Miles | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
In Australia, approximately one in four women experience some form of domestic violence, but only 8% of women report it, and charges are rare. Apart from the harrowing experience for the woman, this documentary reveals an insidious development in the search for justice.
Australian writer /director Selina Miles follows Human Rights Lawyer Jennifer Robinson to the High Court in London, to record her fight against the weaponisation of defamation laws to silence a survivor of gender violence.
The trial was when Johnny Depp sued The Sun newspaper for claiming that he had been responsible for domestic violence, and Robinson was supporting Amber Heard who was dragged into court to talk about some of the most distressing moments of her life.
The issue of gender violence is very close to home for Robinson and she is only too aware that, historically, women have been attacked and positioned to feel like the perpetrator while patriarchy protects the men.
This was the case in London where there was overwhelming support for Depp. Heard (who hadn’t filed a complaint or a lawsuit) was attacked as being a sociopathic abuser and outside the London court, a van with a billboard saying “Ditch the Witch” was circling.
The #MeToo movement did help women speak out, but the male population retaliated with defamation lawsuits that Robinson describes as “litigation designed to bully people into silence.”
The documentary maker travels the world. She dives into the Brittany Higgins case in Australia. It was called “The Higgins Trial” because even though it was The Crown versus Lehrmann, Higgins was the only person cross-examined. Then when Lehrmann sued Channel 10 for defamation, Higgins had to spend over four days on the stand as the witness for Channel 10 while Lehrmann didn’t take the stand.
Johnny Depp also sued for defamation, and you will be left speechless at the ramifications for Heard after Depp’s ‘legal’ attacks on her. She must have thought she was in a boxing ring, being knocked around by a misogynistic society.
Be among the first to see this excellent documentary about strong women who wouldn’t be silenced. See it, talk about it and keep the conversation going.
Silenced is followed by a live Q&A at Luna Cinema on Tuesday 1 September, at 7pm. Speakers will include Eleanor Danks (Sexual Assault Legal Services and Elisha Butt (John Curtin Law Clinic).
Lezly Herbert
