Jennifer Baumgardner created her break through documentary I Had an Abortion in 2005 alongside Gillian Aldrich. It follows the stories of almost a dozen women who are of an assorted age range, class, race, sexuality and religion, all while showing the impacts of abortion.
"Why talk about our abortions? Because every major advance in reproductive freedom was preceded by women telling the truth about their lives. Near the turn of the 20th century, Margaret Sanger shed light on the women who were dying early and miserable deaths due to a lack of birth control and near-constant childbearing, ushering in birth control. In the late 1960s, women began speaking out about their illegal abortions, accelerating the movement for abortion rights. Women telling their stories now—when abortion is legal but so stigmatized that it’s never discussed in polite company—places real women at the center of what has become a vicious and abstract debate." - Jennifer Baumgardner on her documentary
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| Reviews on the film. |
In 2013, Baumgardner released her second film, It Was Rape, which tells eight very different stories of sexual harassment and assault. Not only is this a documentary, but it also a campaign and resource. Baumgardner's thought process was to highlight the relevance in our society and to break the stigma that surrounds it. Baumgardner said that the "goal of this project is to add to the cultural conversation around rape." She also wanted this film to give rape survivors a voice and to help future victims or people struggling at that exact moment.
Although rape is a crime, it usually goes unpunished. 60% of rapes in the United States are not reported and 50% of those that are reported will not result in an arrest. In North America, 1 in every 4 women will endure sexual assault or harassment in their life, most likely before the age of 17. In the past, 15% of sexual assault cases that were reported were from males who were under the age of 16. (http://www.sexassault.ca)
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