Culture Blog #1

Recently, a nationally commended Peruvian film called "La Teta Asustada" (The Milk of Sorrow) has been nominated for a foreign language Academy Award. This film tells the story of Fausta, whose mother was raped by Peruvian military while pregnant with her, and other stories of sexual violence in Peru during the 1980s and 1990s. For example, Liliana Tenorio lost her father while she was only a few months old, and she saw her mother and other villagers raped by Peruvian soldiers when she was only 3. Both events still haunt her, but she finally has begun to inform others of what she has witnessed. Like LIliana Tenorio, many Peruvian women are victims of sexual abuse, but few have spoken up about the violence. According to a recent study in Peru, 83% of rapes were committed by Peruvian military against peasant women. Sexual violence exists all throughout the country, but in the poorest cities, where rebellious political groups fight for power, most villagers have been taken advantage of. Hopefully, the new Peruvian movie enlightens the world about the wrongdoings in Peru and other countries once it wins an Oscar in the 82nd Annual Academy Awards on March 7th.


http://movies.yahoo.com/news/movies.ap.org/peru-film-sexual-violence-nominated-oscar-ap