The brutally powerful PBS documentary “Women, War & Peace” is not easy to watch, but it is an important testament to unthinkable events in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Colombia and Liberia. And to positive steps being taken in the name of humanity, justice and peace.
A recurring theme of the series is that modern wars are not fought by trained national armies so much as by gangs, undisciplined insurgent groups, armed with improvised weapons and reduced to barbaric behavior. Women have become primary targets, being systematically raped, and ultimately “emerging as critical partners in brokering peace and as leaders in forging new international laws governing conflict.”
Women are changing the rules of engagement, redefining the world’s perception of modern warfare.
The five-part series, debuting at 9 p.m. tonight on Rocky Mountain PBS, is particularly timely. Just last week three women –Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Liberian activist Leymah Gbowee and Yemeni activist Tawakul Karman — won the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to promote peace and women’s rights in their countries. Two of them, Johnson-Sirleaf and Gbowee, appear in the second documentaru, “Pray the Devil Back to Hell.”
The first hour, “I Came to Testify,” opens with the trial in The Hague, Netherlands, where rape is for the first time charged as a crime against humanity: 16 survivors recount crimes in the rape camps in Bosnia. Faces blurred, names replaced with numbers, the women recount unbelievable stories of astounding abuse.
With heartbreaking clarity, the film chronicles the stories of women starting long before the war, recalling a time of peace between Croats and Serbs. “We were in each others’ weddings,” one recalls. And then the dehumanizing propaganda and the start of war between neighbors.
Narration by Matt Damon, Geena Davis, Tilda Swinton and Alfre Woodard supports the voices of the women who share their harrowing memories.
The final hour, “War Redefined,” includes interviews with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her predecessors Madeleine Albright and Condoleezza Rice. The theme is that war and peace are not a male domain.
Consistently, the films tell stories of women who are risking their lives to get the stories out, to make sure women have a place at the negotiating table, to make global change.
“Women, War & Peace” continues over Tuesday nights through Nov. 8.
Joanne Ostrow: 303-954-1830 or jostrow@denverpost.com
