TED's DIGITAL JUNGLE - INFORMED CONSENT- A HOT POLITICAL POTATO

 

    INFORMED CONSENT , A VERY HOT POLITICAL POTATO!
 
It is no secret that Sexual Violence here in the DRC is a huge problem ‚along with a host of others.  From a Multimedia perspective, the subject raises some troubling issues, and we had a first-hand encounter with one a few weeks ago.

The American filmmaker Lisa Jackson, who made a film about rape in the DRC a few years o ago ( one none of us here has seen, since no one seems to have a copy, even though the production was made with MONUC support and was shown to  the Security Council in NYC, was also on HBO) returned to ostensibly screen her film in the home villages of some of her victims.

 Since Ms. Jackson was making no effort to cover the faces of the victims, this was an immediate problem for us, since our Human  Rights Division has a policy of not showing rape victims' faces  images available for public viewing,  and the very idea of showing the film in the victims' home villages, where the perpetrators might be still living, seemed to be to be both reckless and totally irresponsible.

Of course, we support freedom of the press, but in this case Ms. Jackson was again asking for our assistance. The fact that  she had not gone through proper channels in doing so didn't help her case, as well as the fact that she seemed to be using the screenings to surreptitiously be shooting a sequel didn' t help either.

After all, the DRC is a sovereign nation, and we are but invited guests here; we certainly do not want to be supporting an activity that would be illegal in most countries we
could think of, so we withdrew our support as soon as we found out what was going on.

Ms. Jackson promptly left the country, with loud proclamations ( having not seen her film, I cannot comment on it, but she does a very good job of promoting herself) that she would return to Kinshasa to show her film to the National Aseembly and on a national TV channel. I would pay good money to see that encounter, since her most recent visit aroused the ire  of one of the DRC' s largest Human Rights organizations, who accused
her of treating the rape victims like they were animals in a zoo.

From what I have seen of Ms. Jackson' s blog, I have to agree with them.

Defenders of Ms. Jackson say that she has the victims' written consent, but our Human Rights Division would argue that there is a big difference between consent‚and informed consent.

In other words, Individuals might agree to allow their faces shown, but not be aware of the potential consequences; furthermore, here in the DRC, there are many desperate people who would agree to anything under the sun for a suitable fee.
Written consent, has no validity , per se.

But you are denying the victims the right to bear witness!‚Ms. Jackson's defenders then protest, ignoring the fact that the victims can bear witness on camera, but not for commercial distribution,. And have done so on occasions when we could guarantee that the material would only be shown internally.

Interestingly enough, many of these victims said the only thing that could help them would be peace and the elimination of the armed groups who were preying upon them. And a surprising number of these victims of sexual violence were men, a fact which undermines the gender-based advocacy of Ms. Jackson and others such as Eve Ensler.

Ms. Jackson claims that measures were taken to provide funds for re-location of victims if they were subsequently in danger, but that is pretty callous coming from someone who lives in New York, because we know the victims will not be coming to New York to stay with her. And anyone who knows anything about Third World village life knows the home village and their families are the world for these woman, and that once they leave, they have little or nothing.

Writing as a filmmaker, I think no work of art, however, spectacular or importat, can justify putting lives in danger, so I find Ms. Jackson's actions both irresponsible and reckless.

She might then reply she is an advocate, which presumably would provide her with special license, but then I would reply that the notorious King Leopold of Belgium also claimed to be an advocate for the people of the Congo, and was responsible for much of this country's tragic history,

Self-proclaimed advocacy might play well in some circles, but is no excuse for inhumane exploitation of fellow humans, no matter where they are. And exploitation is what we are talking about, since Ms. Jackson has built her career on this one production, and she seems to enjoy the festival circuit.

What goes around comes around ‚and I don't expect to see her here again .




       


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