Chatham Community Library will host a virtual screening of the documentary SISTERS RISING (2020), beginning Thursday, August 12 and continuing through Thursday, August 19, 2021.

SISTERS RISING is the story of six Native American women fighting to restore personal and tribal sovereignty in the face of ongoing sexual violence against Indigenous women in the United States.

Native American women are 2.5 times more likely to experience sexual assault than all other American women. 1 in 3 Native women report having been raped during her lifetime and 86% of the offenses are committed by non-Native men. These perpetrators exploit gaps in tribal jurisdictional authority and target Native women as ‘safe victims’. The film follows six women who refuse to let this pattern of violence continue in the shadows: a tribal cop in the midst of the North Dakota oil boom, an attorney fighting to overturn restrictions on tribal sovereignty, a teacher of Indigenous women’s self-defense, grassroots advocates working to influence legislative change, and the author of the first anti-sex trafficking code to be introduced to a reservation’s tribal court. Their stories shine an unflinching light on righting injustice on both an individual and systemic level.

SISTERS RISING is an urgent call to action, a gorgeous portrait of powerful women acting in solidarity, and a demand for tribal sovereignty and self-determination as the necessary step towards ending violence against Native women. 

Film highlights and awards include:

• Honorable Mention Big Sky Award, Big Sky Documentary Film Festival
• Best Film Award, Women's Voices Now Film Festival
• Best Documentary Feature, American Indian Film Festival
• Thaddeus Stevens Award, Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival

Access to the virtual screening will be available beginning Thursday, August 12, by clicking HERE .  A password is required at the time of viewing.   Please contact social.library@chathamlibraries.org to request the password or for additional information.

This program is free and open to the public.