Progressive Documentary Hour - 06/02/14

Tonight’s show will focus on the painful subject of rape of women in our society, and what few real mechanisms exist for justice to be realized for them.

This powerful and Academy award-nominated documentary film The Invisible War, will be the featured film this evening around which, joining Mitchell to discuss the topic, is president of the National Organization of Women (NOW) Terry O’Neill.

Terry was elected president of N.O.W. in June 2009 and oversees this landmark organization’s multi-issue agenda which includes: advancing reproductive freedom, ending racism, stopping violence against women, winning lesbian rights, ensuring economic justice, ending sex discrimination and achieving constitutional equality for women.

A former law professor, O’Neill taught at Tulane and the University of California at Davis, where her courses included feminist legal theory and international women’s rights law. She has testified before committees in the Maryland House of Delegates and has written federal amicus briefs on abortion rights for Louisiana NOW, Planned Parenthood and the ACLU.

This documentary provides the painful evidence of how much change is needed in the military.  The national conversation has thankfully engaged the importance of rape in all sectors of society, including on college campuses.

If you can see The Invisible War prior to the radio program, you will appreciate the depth of the film and the ensuing discussion.

Toward the end of the show, listeners are invited to call in and share their questions, comments or story.