Arrested Development Ministry: Sexual Abuse Triggers in the Media

Title	Medium	Comments
5 Women 6 Chairs	Movie	It is a film about survivors and the trauma and issues they face on a day to day basis.
8MM	Movie	Rape.
9 1/2 Weeks	Movie	Rape scene.
13 Ghosts	Movie	Very graphic horror movie. Not so much in sexual sence, there is nudity and a vulgar joke made. Can be disturbing to someone who has been physically abused. Very Graphic (bloody, pain, not so much as in sexual though)
28 Days	Movie	Self-injury.
The Accused	Movie	This movie is about the treatment of rape in the criminal justice system. It contains a very graphic rape scene.
Agnes of God	Movie	A dead baby is found outside a convent, and is traced to Agnes who is studying to be a nun and is so innocent she didn't realize she was pregnant, or even what sex is. The therapist who tries to figure out what happened to Agnes's baby discovers that Agnes endured abuse such as having a lit cigarette put to her genitals. There's also a suggestion that Agnes's pregnancy was from a rape.
Alien 3	Movie	Attempted Rape.
American Beauty	Movie	A really well done movie, but it also made me sick and sad and angry and angry and angry! The whole message of the movie was amazing, but the father perv-ing out on the 16 year old girl triggered me.
American History X	Movie	I think it would be very disturbing to male survivors -- there is a graphic prison rape scene involving a male.
American Me	Movie	Several rape scenes depicting attacks on both women and men.
American Psycho	Movie/Book	Very graphic. Very triggering.
Angels and Insects	Movie	Incest.
The Astronaut's Wife	Movie	Charlize Theron's husband Jonhnny Depp is killed in outer space by some something but his body returns with somebody else in it. Graphic rape scene but seems like she consented because she didn't say no but he was forceful... she mentions later she is aware that he is not her real husband and she sexually assaulted...i found this very triggering
Bad Girls	Movie	Implied rape and sexual slavery scenes.
Bad Lieutenant	Movie	The movie starts off with the graphic rape of a nun and this topic pretty much dominates the movie because she is unwilling to give the police the names of her attackers because in accord with her religious beliefs she forgives them.
Bandit Queen	Movie	"Bandit Queen" tells the story of Phoolan Devi, a lower-caste woman who achieved notoriety when she fought back against sexism and India's abusive caste system. She is raped, avenges herself, and achieves national notoreity in the process.
Bang	Movie	Woman survives sexual harassment on the "casting couch" followed by attempted rape by a police officer.
Bastard Out Of Carolina	Movie/Book	Throughout the movie there is child abuse but there is a very very disturbing scene where a little girl gets raped by her step-father. I have never been sexually assaulted but this movie made me walk out of the room.
Being John Malkovich	Movie	It is a good movie other than the fact that this guy goes crazy and flips out on his wife, holds a gun up to her and then locks her up in a cage with a monkey.
Beulah Land	Movie/Book	multiple rape scenes. slaves raping women and soldiers raping women. awesome book, just triggering.
Billy Jack	Movie	This is a seemingly OK movie but has a long excruciating rape scene and once again she doesn't tell and forgives. Another really bad one for me. Although her boyfriend later finds out and murders her rapists.
Blackrock	Movie	Based on a true story about a girl who was gangraped and murdered at a beach party in Newcastle, Australia.
Body Bags	Movie	A possesed man rapes his wife. Very brief scene and doesn't dominate the movie.
Body Shots	Movie	Rape scene.
Boogie Nights	Movie	Rape.
Boys Don't Cry	Movie	Rape scene.

Boys of St. Vincent	Movie	Deals with child sexual abuse and male rape. Very disturbing because what happens rings so true.
Breaking The Waves	Movie	Mentally challenged Bess is raped by oil riggers. Pretty disturbing.
The Brutal Truth	Movie	This movie contains an extremely graphic and brutal rape scene. There is also a graphic suicide in response to the rapes. TRIGGERING
Bully	Movie	Very graphic rape scene(s) involving teens.
Buster and Billie	Movie	Small town teens repeatedly do(or try) to rape a shy, mentally challenged girl.She and one of the boys fall in love, and the rest end up gang-raping and killing her. He then kills the assailants. Starring Jan Micheal Vincent. (Film about Late 70's)
Caligula	Movie	Rape - graphic.
Cape Fear	Movie	Rape scene.
Casualties of War	Movie	The soldiers kidnap a girl and keep her around for their "use" - This is the whole center of the movie and lasts a long time
The Celebration	Movie	Incest
The Cell	Movie	About a schziophrenic who drowns women then has sex with the dead bodies... gets very graphic.
Chinatown	Movie	They only talk about incest regarding the lead female character but its revealing is the climax of the film.
The Cider House Rules	Movie	Incest.
Clan of the Cave Bear	Movie	Rape.
Clockwork Orange	Movie	The whole damn thing...rape/abuse issues.
The Color Purple	Movie	Teenage girl is raped repeatedly by her father and has two children by him who are both taken away from her at birth. Many years later she learns that he was not her real father.
Crazy/Beautiful	Movie	A girl fights with her own depression and poor relationship with her family. While not involving rape, it does trigger me. Her emotional breakdown was very hard to watch. Alcohal abuse, evil stepmother, and suicide feature in this film. Was very good.
Crossroads	Movie	The plot deals with a date-rape, and pregnancy as a result of rape.
The Crow	Movie	This is a great movie, but in it, the main characters get murdered, the female one also being raped.
Damned River	Movie	Rape scene.
Cruel Intentions	Movie	Viewers may find the relationship between a step-brother and sister reminiscent of incest.
Damned River	Movie	Rape scene.
Dark Tide	Movie	There is a VERY graphic rape scene.
Daughters of Darkness	Movie	Marital Rape.
Dead Calm	Movie	When the woman's husband is on the other ship and the attacker awakens he has sex without her consent.
Dead Man Walking	Movie	True story. He and a friend assaulted 2 girls and the movie blended the 2 as one. Flashbacks of the rape and then a longer scene near the end. While filming the movie, one of the surviving victims met the real nun depicted in the movie, watched the premiere with her, and now goes to church on Sundays with her to pray for his soul. Its a good movie but pretty triggering, and some people resent the fact that it makes the rapist look almost like he's the victim. But its the story as told by the nun who visited him in prison, keep that in mind.
Death and the Maiden	Movie/Play	A political prisoner who was tortured and raped suspects that the man who's car broke down outside her house is her main abuser, so she captures and tortures him. A classical piece, called Death and the Maiden, triggers her because it was playing when she was raped.
Death Wish I, II, III, IV, V	Movie	There are like 5 of them, and in every one there are very grapgic rapes. It's like they went out of their way to elongate the scenes.
Deliverance	Movie	Rape scene. Particularly bad for male survivors.
Demented	Movie	Disgusting, low grade b-movie made in 1980. Don't think it made the theaters judging by the horrible filming/quality. The opening scene, the wife returns home to park her car and go the her stables, to check on her horse. 4 ranch helpers wearing panty hose accost her into the barn on a haystack. Then, they immediately rape her. Graphic scene, realistic. The whole movie thereafter is her slowly going insane over this ( having spent time in a sanitarium). She thinks everyone is the rapists going after her. Next door neighbor kids don halloween masks and rape her, only to find she kills them one by one. Definitely not worth the rental fee.
Devil's Advocate	Movie	Court scene in which a young woman is harshly interrogated about abuse; self-injury; suicide.
Doom Generation	Movie	About 2 guys and a girl travelling cross-country. Near the end there is a scene where this group of men threaten to rape the girl with a statue of the virgin Mary. They also cut off her boyfrinds penis with hedge clippers. You just see a lot of blood, but it's pretty upsetting.
Dr. No	Movie/Book	By Ian Fleming. Yes, it's a James Bond book. Both the book and the movie refer to an event in the main female character's life when she was raped by a villager, and got revenge by killing her rapist. The movie later implies that she was raped again by the film's villain (But it's unclear whether or not she actually was). Both the book and the movie are pretty boring, so save yourself the rental.
El Mar	Movie/Book	A Spanish movie, I don't even know if it's released elsewhere. Very disturbing, includes violence, several murders at the beginning, obsession, repression, religion...somehow i knew from the beginning that i had to expect rape there. Very graphic deaths. At the end there's a young man breaking free from his abuser by murdering him...then raping a boy who secretly adores him. Again murder...and suicide. Very triggering, i seldom had so many tears coming out in a movie, but still very good, very emotional...only see if you feel strong enough.
The Entity	Movie	Series of violent rapes by ghost. Woman victim feeling powerless and trapped.
Eve's Bayou	Movie	Well made movie starring Samuel L Jackson, about a young girl living on a bayou in Louisiana. However, fairly central to the plot is an incident of incestuous child molestation, which is retold several times from different viewpoints. May trigger.
The Ex	Movie	Graphic Rape scene.
Extremities	Movie	Graphic rape scene followed by the victim's capture, imprisonment, and torture of her rapist.
Eye for an Eye	Movie	The whole movie is based upon the opening scene where a mother is on the phone with her daughter when someone breaks into their home and rapes and kills her daughter. VERY graphic, VERY triggering.
Eyes Wide Shut	Movie	Women are treated as sexual slaves to men. Enough to trigger me.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas	Movie/Book	Main charater talks to friend about raping a young girl, although it is only said so that his friend will get rid of the girl (she is not raped) the conversation still made me sick
Festen	Movie	About father/son and father/daughter incest. Nothing graphic. Very good movie but can be triggering.
Fight Club	Movie	The climax of this film can be very triggering for someone diagnosed with D.I.D., it is also, as the title suggests, rather violent.
Flowers in the Attic	Movie/Book	Incest between a brother and sister. Discusses incestuous relationship that follows the first sexual encounter. Made me sick to my stomach. Be careful.
For My Daughter's Honor	Movie	This is about a 15 year old female student being involved with her 30 year old teacher. Deals with sexual assault.
Forrest Gump	Movie	Gump's friend Jenny is molested by her father and becomes a drug addict and suicidal because of it. In one scene she has a breakdown in front of her childhood home.
Foxfire	Movie	This film deals with a group of girls who go out and assault a teacher because he is sexually assualting many teens in the school. This movie shows a small part where the teacher is actually rubbing and such...he gets his butt kicked though so I am happy..an awesome movie!!
Freeway	Movie	Main character is sexually abused by her stepfather, picked up by a pedophile when she runs away, and pressured into lesbian sexual contact by a fellow inmate. Graphic violence.
Freeway 2	Movie	A direct to video sequel to the original freeway and there is a lot of incest stuff in this movie.
The General's Daughter	Movie	Graphic rape scene. I have been warned by several people about this movie. I have not seen it, as I was told that it would upset me too much to watch it.
Get Carter	Movie	Insinuated rape, and you see the after effects of what the girl is going through, triggered me severly
Gia	Movie	There is a scene where she is attacked and raped. The camera pans away as it's happening, but it's still disturbing.
G.I. Jane	Movie	Attempted rape.
Girl Interrupted	Movie/Book	A girl commits suicide when she is confronted about father raping her and her liking it. It plays a very small roll in the movie and it is otherwise EXCELLENT, but if you have fresh wounds like I do, it's enough to make you throw up and cry.
Girls Town	Movie	About a teen girl who was raped and commits suicide. Her friends fight back against rapists in the movie. Can be healing but triggering at the same time.
Gladiator	Movie	Disturbing reference to the rape of the main character's wife.
Gods And Monsters	Movie	Homosexual rape.
The Good Girl	Movie	In one scene, a man blackmails Jennifer Aniston's character into having sex with him. the camera shows her laying stiff beneath him, staring at the ceiling while he is having sex with her. Very triggering and disturbing..

Gossip	Movie	Central theme is the rape of one of the characters.
Grave Vengeance	Movie	Horrible movie comparable to "I Spit On Your Grave", only the vengeful heroine doesn't kill the guys who did it, and ends up going insane. Terrible movie.
The Green Mile	Movie/Book	Movie which contains the story told about the conviction of a man for the rape and murder of two small 7 year old sisters in the South. The man was faulsey commited but shared the same prison area with the man whom really commited this sexual crime only he was there for other reasons. Can be very triggering!
Happiness	Movie	Pedophilia and child rape.
Hearts in Atlantis	Movie	Rape seen and heard.
Heaven and Earth	Movie	Rape
Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer	Movie	Very TRIGGERING! Incest.
Higher Learning	Movie	A girl's partner has sex with her, refusing to use protection.
The Hole	Movie	This is a brilliant film, but there are scenes that I find triggering. Very early on, there is a graphic scene of a girl being examined for signs of rape. Later on there are scenes of another girl being coaxed into having sex with 2 boys. I found this triggering.
Hollow Man	Movie	Scientists make this guy invisible and he decides to use his new found power to go around raping and murdering women. Terrible movie.
The Hotel New Hampshire	Movie/Book	For the moment I only know the film... Includes a gang rape scene, brother-sister-incest, a young girl wearing a bear costume after her rape and a revenge scene. Sometimes quite graphic, but (at least to me) not really triggering...worth seeing it if you can.
The House of Yes	Movie	A LOT of incest: brother and sister.
I spit on your Grave	Movie	Particularly sick but that is obvious from the packaging. Don't even think about watching this movie.
Jezebel's Kiss	Movie	Rape.
Joan of Arc	Movie	Rape scene.
K-Pax	Movie	All in all a very good movie, but there is one scene that shows a house being broken into and then a woman that has been raped. Also discusses the rape and what was not shown was just as bad as what was. Can be potentially very triggering - this happens towards the end of the movie, I did not expect to see anything like this. Stay safe while watching it.
Kalifornia	Movie	Rape.
Kids	Movie	Character is raped by a friend while she is passed out. Very graphic scene.
Killer-A journal of murder	Movie	Rape
Kiss the Girls	Movie/Book	Very graphic depictions of rape. Very very triggering. I do not recommend this, especially the book, to any survivor.
LA Confidential	Movie	Rape of girl plays small part, but the condition she is found in is graphic hence triggering.
Last House on the Left	Movie	Rape. VERY Triggering.
Last Tango in Paris	Movie	A scene which could be construed as anal rape.
Leaving Las Vegas	Movie	Deals with suicide, inludes graphic rape scene(s) (Don't remember...) Very sad and disturbing also to friends of mine who have no rape/abuse experience, but still one of my favorite movies.
Les Minets Sauvages	Movie	Gangrape commited by arab prison gang on white french inmates in paris-jail.
Liars' Club	Movie	Graphic rape.
L.I.E.	Movie	This movie is about a young boy who becomes friends with a pedophile. no actual sex scenes are shown but it is disturbing nonetheless. the most disturbing part is when one boy talks about sleeping with his sister. the movie treats it as if it is a weird thing to do, but not wholy unaccpetable. the audience i was with laughed at the repeated incest comments.
Lipstick	Movie	Marguex Hemingway and her sister Mariel were in this '76 flick. Music teacher of younger mariel meets w/ older sister and model Marguex to try to persuade her to listen to his original music, to secure a record deal(?). After she takes a phone call, interupting their metting, he becomes hostile, offering a slanderous remark, and when she angrily orders him out, he attacks her. Very graphic assault/rape scene. Tries to scare/ reduce her before the rape. Later in the movie, after unsuccessfully prosecuting him, he is let free. He rapes younger sister. Older one goes after him w/ shotgun conveniently stored in her Jeep. She blasts his balls, then him, away. Loved the ending anyway....
Lolita	Movie	This one is diffucult to categorize, but deals with what is by definition child sexual abuse.
Looking for Mr. Goodbar	Movie	Diane Keaton plays a woman in new york in the 70's. she's very sexually adventurous in an escapism kind of way. most of the film was ok, a few fights between her and men, but the end of the film is a horrible, horrible scene where she gets raped and stabbed to death. i'm still shaking and i watched it hours ago.
Macbeth	Movie	When the murderers are killing lady macduff, the scene goes to the hallway where men are raping women. I watched this in English and had to leave the room.
Macon County Jail	Movie	Very very graphic rape scene.
Mad Max	Movie	Seen 'at a distance' rape scene.
Man Bites Dog	Movie	French mock-documentary about a hitman with a scene where criminals gang rape a women while forcing her husband to watch. Also, graffically displayed aftermath of a female anal rape/murder victim's body.
The Man Next Door	Movie	Rapist out on parole.
Memento	Movie	Story about a man who has lost his memory and is seeking revenge for his raped and murdered wife. Done in flashbacks, rape is not explicitly shown, but always present, graphic violence. Disturbing end but yet a great film.
The Messenger	Movie	Good movie about Joan of Arc but very violent and includes a graphic rape scene.
Moulin Rouge	Movie	Attempted rape scene.
Nail Gun Massacre	Movie	Cheesy 80s slasher flick. The opening scene is a woman being gang-raped by construction workers.
Never Talk To Strangers	Movie	Deals with a woman therapist suffering from MPD. Triggers flasbacks of childhood molestation. Portrays all DID cases as psychos. Not a good movie to watch while going through therapy for multiple personality disorder.
The Ninth Configuration	Movie	Off camera sexual assault of a male psychiatric patient followed by graphic violence - an excellent film though, but I found this particular scene triggering
No child of mine	Movie	Terrible child abuse scenes of a young girl being raped and forced by her father into prostitution. Sadly based on a true story.
Not Another Teen Movie	Movie	Incest...Although it is a fun movie with no plot, there are many sexual references and could be triggering towards people sensitive to subjects on incest. Also a guy in the movie is trying to change the look of a "nerd." This could effect people who are uncomfortable with men having power over women.
Nuts	Movie	Trial about the incest of main character.
O	Movie	There is a scene where the main character forcefully penetrates her after she pleads with him to stop.
Once Were Warriors	Movie	Although it's primarily about domestic violence, the daughter of the father is raped in her bed by one of her father's friends. She withdraws completely afterwards, during the following days. Soon after, one night, her father finds her hanging by a rope - suicide - in their garden. The parents break down sobbing, and that night, they go through her room where her father finds her diary. He sits there and reads all she has written (about the rape). He ends up bashing his friend to death. I felt completely sick after this film. It's probably one of the most disturbing movies I've ever seen in my whole life.
Original Sin	Movie	There are some scenes where Angelina Jolie's caracter is "paying" by having sex with some guy.

Paris Trout	Movie	Saw this a LONG time agao but I still remember it well. Has Dennis Hopper I think. I remember at least one scene where Dennis' character rapes his wife anally with a beer bottle. Very very disturbing.
Patch Adams	Movie	Reference to incest. Scene with self injury.
Pearl Harbor	Movie	Father hits son towards the beginning of the movie. This movie was very triggering to my girlfriend.
Perfect Blue	Movie	There are rape scenes in this movie, even though... in the movie, they are shooting a movie, and it is animation... it can be very triggering. It's really hard to watch sometimes... but the plot is acually really amazing.
Perfect Body	Movie	upsetting for people with eating disorders, it is a good film but I found it very hard to watch and it triggered "fat" feelings
Pink Floyd- The Wall	Movie	I found this movie very triggering with the subjects of self-mutalations and a rape scene that is repeated throughout the end of the movie.
Platoon	Movie	Very graphic war movie. But there is also a very graphic rape scene. Very graphic killings.
Pretty Woman	Movie	This is the 'Pretty Woman' starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere, and has a scene of attempted rape.
Priest	Movie	Very intense, very controversial film. There is discussion and depiction of a father who rapes his daughter.
Prince of Tides	Movie	Graphic Rape Bad for male and female survivors. Although it is about a catharsis wherin someone learns to deal with the past. Very triggering but ultimately uplifting. Also triggering for those who have been sexually abused by therapists, since the doctor crossed boundaries and had sex with a patient.
Pulp Fiction	Movie	Graphic rape of a male, it is shown and then intercepted but still pretty bad.
Quiet Days in Hollywood	Movie	Rape
Quills	Movie	This film, and it's climatic attempted rape/death seen for the central female character, had me disturbed for days. It was certainly triggering.
Requiem for a Dream	Movie	The sex for drugs scenes were disturbing.
Rob Roy	Movie	Rape scene.
Rosemary's Baby	Movie	A married woman is tied to a bed and raped by the Devil.
Salvador	Movie	There is one scene about the rape and murder of nuns who were helping the people of El Salvador during their revolution. This is a true story, and the scene was shocking to anyone with any sensitivity, but can be triggering.
Santa Sangre	Movie	Incest.
Saturday Night Fever	Movie	Rape.
Schindler's List	Movie	Rape.
Scum	Movie	A young male inmate is gang raped shown in full. Officer sees it, but turn blind eye.
Seven	Movie	I walked out of the room for this one - rough sex scene as well as graphic, disturbing rape (talked about, but not show).
The Shaming	Movie	Anne Heywood stars as a 1950's high school teacher named Ms. Wyckoff. One day after school, she gets raped by a black janitor named Rafe. Soon she begins having sex with Rafe everyday. Good but disturbing movie which shows the prejudices of America during this time period. It's disturbing in the fact that Ms. Wyckoff starts a relationship with the man that raped her
The Shawshank Redemption	Movie	Not shown, insinuated prison rape.
She Fought Alone	Movie	It's got kelly from 'Saved By the Bell' in it. It's about this girl who is raped, by supposedly hanging out with the wrong crowd. No one believes her, the one who raped her tortures her and in the end she goes to court.
The Shipping News	Movie	Wonderful and uplifting film, but there is a scene that shows a character in flashback as a twelve year old being raped by her brother. Its somewhat brief, but still upsetting.
Showgirls	Movie	Graphic, violent gang-rape occurs near end of movie.
Sleepers	Movie	Child rape.
Sleeping with the Enemy	Movie	Marital Rape.
A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries	Movie	Very graphic rape scene.
Spetters	Movie	Film deals with the motorcross circuit in Holland; brother of female lead character participates in male gang rape of biker after catching him in a blackmail scheme...somewhat graphic.
Star 80	Movie	Story of Dorothy Stratten - how she's sexually abused and raped by her husband. Horrible bondage stuff - she ends up getting murdered.

Stir of echoes	Movie	It has Kevin Bacon in it. His sister in law hypnotizes him and afterwards he sees this ghost. His son can also see her. She's trying to tell them something. He starts digging up his back yard looking for her body.He finally finds it in his basement in the wall. When he touches the body he sees the whole rape scene and what happened to her.
Strange Days	Movie	A fairly graphic rape scene which I know was disturbing to several of my friends. I don't remember the scene as being entirely central to the film, and is is a good movie.
Strangeland	Movie	About a schizophrenic sexual sadist who's fantasy is to "educate" young people through tribal rituals/body piercing, ect. There are two lines in the movie that refer to one of his prisoners being raped.
Straw Dogs	Movie	Rape scene of a married woman by her ex-boyfriend and his friends. Graphic but also ambiguous-very disturbing.
Striptease	Movie	Graphic repeated rape scene where the woman is unable to escape, even though she's at a party. Very triggering. Admittedly, this is hardly a family film anyway.
Sybil	Movie/Book	Child Sexual Abuse
Terror in Badham County	Movie	Has a rape scene I found particularly disturbing although it wasn't graphic at all. Terrible movie, too.
Thelma & Louise	Movie	Rape scene that triggered Tori Amos.
Things Behind the Sun	Movie	This movie is about a singer who was gang-raped when she was 14.
A Thousand Acres	Movie/Book	The book/movie surrounds three sisters dealing with incest. Not shown but the whole movie is about this topic.
Tightrope	Movie	A detective investigating a series of serial rapes has dark fantasies that disturb him (about rape.)He has them until his ten year old daughter becomes the rapist's next victim. The condition she's found in triggered me.
A Time to Kill	Movie/Book	It is about a 13yr old black girl who was raped by 2 white men, because of what they did she would never be able to have kids. This was a very disturbing film as it shows what animals and lack of justice there is out there.
Titus	Movie	This is based on the Shakespeare play that is partially about a rape. I was assigned to see it for a class and there is a rape scene which afterwards the girl has her tongue and hands cut off.
To Kill a Mockingbird	Movie/Book	Rape trial- may be triggering- also touches on father/daughter abuse.
Tommy	Movie	Child Sexual Abuse
Traffic	Movie	There is a scene with the girl having sex with her dealer then he gives her herion (or some kind of drug) that got her unconciouse, and then he had sex with her. Without her consent.
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with me	Movie	You have to have seen the series to be able to discern the fact that the father isn't the one raping her-it is really a spirit that possed his . There is rape either way.
Ultimate Betrayal	Movie	Based on a true story, a family is torn apart when two adult sisters decide to take their father to court for sexually abusing them as children. It is revealed, as the story progresses, that the father severaly absued all six children, and committed incest with all four of his daughters. The movie includes graphic descriptions and scenes of the abuse, which are disturbing.
Unbreakable	Movie	Rape is not shown, but is insinuated, against a drunk girl at a party. Also, a murderer has tied two kids and a woman to radiators in their home. Triggering. These scenes come as a suprise given the context of the movie. Careful.
Under Hellgate Bridge	Movie	There is a scene where a man sodomizes a woman on a table against her will.
Under Suspicion	Movie	This is a film centering around a police interrogation of a suspect in a child-rape and murder trial. Large sections of the film maybe triggering: as the feature fairly graphic depictions of possible molestations, sexual contact with young prostitutes, and descriptions of rape.
Untamed Heart	Movie	Attempted rape scene.
Usual Suspects	Movie	Intense, dream-like rape scene. Very violent. But overall, the film is excellent.
U-turn	Movie	Incest or rape talked about.
Very Bad Things	Movie	Stars Camaron Diaz and Christian Slater. In the beginning of the movie, a prosititute is murdered during sex. The rest of the movie deals with the characters trying to cover it up and turning on each other. It was a very disturbing film.
The Watcher	Movie	No rape at all, but the serial killer hiding in the victims' house disturbed me more than some rape scenes in other films.
What Lies Beneath	Movie	Wonderful ghost story but depicts older college professor having an affair with a female student.
What's Love Got to Do With It	Movie	Tina Turner bio-pic. Very realistic, matter-of-fact rape scene.
Welcome to the Dollhouse	Movie	Perhaps this is another movie with the same title. There's a scene where a young teenager threatens to rape the maun character, a young teenage girl. Later, he asks her to meet him so he can rape her. She meets him, he doesn't rape her, and they develop a relationship of sorts. Very triggerring, also because of the emotional abuse the girl suffers from her peers and family.
When Rabbit Howls	Movie/Book	Very in depth discussion of step-father/step-daughter incest. Very graphic. Excellent book/movie if you can stomach it.
Where the heart is	Movie	Incest discussed.
Whore	Movie	Very graphic rape scene.
Wolf	Movie	Attempted rape scene.
The World According to Garp	Movie/Book	Haven't read the book yet, but the whole film deals with abuse/violence matters. As far as I remeber not explicitely shown. Wonderful and healing to me.

Other Media with Sexual Abuse Content

0-9 Edit

 8 mm, 1999, directed by Joel Schumacher, starring Nicolas Cage, Joaquin Phoenix, and James Gandolfini.

The main character (private investigator Tom Welles, played by Nicolas Cage), is hired to research the authenticity of a snuff film depicting a teenage girl being raped and tortured by a masked man, as well as the girl's apparent murder.

A Edit

 "American Beauty"

The protagonist is motivated to change his life after become infatuated with his daughter's classmate.

 "An American Haunting"

A young girl is raped by her father. Decades later, another girl living in the same house is haunted by the formers ghost, prompting her mother to question the relationship between her daughter and her ex husband.

 American Me

Depicts several acts of rape performed by the prisoners on other prisoners.

 Animal House

"Pinto" sleeps with Mayor's 13 year old daughter.

 A Time to Kill

Depicts a young African American girl being raped by two white men, and her father (Samuel L. Jackson) is put on trial for their subsequent murder.

 Atonement (film)

A teenage girl is raped by an older man, another man is falsely accused.

Angry Dogs

B Edit

 The Basketball Diaries

Jim Carroll (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) is a 16-year-old junkie. At the end of the film he prostitutes himself once in order to get money for buying drugs.

 Bastard Out of Carolina, 1996

A young girl from Carolina is sexually abused by her stepfather and eventually raped on screen.

 The Butterfly Effect

A boy discovers (over time) that his best friend is being sexually abused by her father, and eventually remembers that he was made to perform with her in videotaped child pornography.

 Black Snake Moan, 2007

A promiscuous young woman (Christina Ricci) tries to change her ways, and faces the fact that she was sexually abused by her mother's boyfriend when she was a child.

C Edit

 Chinatown, 1974, directed by Roman Polanski, written by Robert Towne

A woman has an incestuous relationship with her father, resulting in a daughter by him.

 Christiane F. - Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo

A 13-year-old falls into heroin addiction and is forced to prostitute herself in Berlin in order to buy her dose.

 The Color Purple

A girl gives birth to two children by a man she believes to be her father.

 The Country Teacher, 2008

A male teacher boards with a family and molests a teen boy.

D Edit

 Deliver Us from Evil, 2006, directed by Amy Berg

The true story of Catholic priest Father Oliver O'Grady who abused both boys and girls.[1]

 Devil in a Blue Dress

 Donnie Darko

After Donnie burns down a local celebrity's house, a safe containing child pornography is found within the burned walls.

 Doubt, 2008

A nun suspects the priest of her school is abusing a boy.

 Dreamchild, 1985, directed by Gavin Millar

Developed from the television play Alice by Dennis Potter, based on the life of 'Charles Dodgson' (Lewis Carroll).[2]

E Edit

 Eban and Charley, 2000, directed by James Bolton

A 29-year-old man forms an intimate relationship with a 14-year-old-boy.[3]

 Eve's Bayou

A young girl tells her younger sister that she was raped by their father after she attempts to seduce him and is rejected.

 Evilenko

A film based on a true crime case. In the beginning sequence, the film's chief character, Andrej Romanovic, holds back a young girl in his class for detention and then attempts to rape her.

 The Exterminator, 1980

John Eastland as "The Exterminator" raids a child prostitution ring, killing the ringleader and a state senator from New Jersey while setting a young boy free who was bound to a bed.

F Edit

 Fat Girl

A young overweight girl is raped onscreen in the woods by a man who murdered her mother and older sister. She is also depicted nude onscreen.

 Flashbacks of a Fool

A fading Hollywood star looks back at the days of his teenage youth when his mother's friend raped him, eventually playing a part in her young daughter's death.

 Fierce People

A teenage boy is raped and beaten out of hate and jealousy.

 For a Lost Soldier, see Voor een verloren soldaat.

 Forrest Gump

Gump's childhood sweetheart is abused by her father in a brief plot line, and some later suffering can be inferred from the earlier trauma.

 Freeway (1996 film)

A young girl (Reese Witherspoon) who is sexually abused by her stepfather, faces foster care when her mother (Amanda Plummer) is arrested for prostitution. She runs away and encounters a serial child rapist / murderer (Kiefer Sutherland')

 From Dusk till Dawn

Richie Gecko (Quentin Tarantino) has an on screen sexual fantasy about a young teenage girl (Juliet Lewis)

G Edit

 Georgia Rule

A young woman confesses to her family that her stepfather molested and raped her from age 12 to 14.

 Get Out Your Handkerchiefs

A married woman takes a 13-year-old boy as her lover.

 The Girl Next Door (2007 film)

 The Goddess of 1967

 Gone Baby Gone

A young girl from a rough neighbourhood in Boston disappears. A convicted pedophile is under suspicion by the police and the movie's protagonists, Patrick Kenzie and Angelica Gennaro.

 Gothika

 Gardens of the Night

 Gummo

 Girl, Interrupted

One of the patients is involved in a sexual relationship with her father, who lavishes her with gifts and favors. These include prematurely removing her from treatment and setting her up in her own house, where she later commits suicide after another patient confronts her about the relationship.

H Edit

 Happiness, 1998, directed by Todd Solondz

A respected psychiatrist and family man is a predatory abuser of his young son's friends.

 Hard Candy, 2006, directed by David Slade starring Patrick Wilson and Ellen Page

A young woman poses as a 14-year-old to track down pedophiles who sexually solicit children in internet chat rooms.

 The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things, 2004, directed by and starring Asia Argento.

The young protagonist is raped by one of his mother's boyfriends.

 Higher Ground (TV series) starring Hayden Christensen, A. J. Cook, ...

The series is about troubled teens in some sort of 'help camp'. Scott (Christensen's character) is being sexually abused by his stepmother and Shelby (Cook's character) by her stepfather.

 The Hills Have Eyes

A girl is raped by a mutant in her family's trailer.

 Hannibal Rising (film)

 Hounddog (film)

A preteen girl is raped by her male friend's older brother after being promised tickets to a concert, and she suffers depression.

I Edit

 In a Dark Place

A chilling ghost story about two orphaned children whose nanny confronts her tormented past.

J Edit

 Jet Boy

 Jaago

A 10 year old schoolgirl (Hansika Motwani) is raped by three men in a train.

K Edit

 Kill Bill

As a child, the character O-Ren Ishii kills her parents' murderer by exploiting the fact that he was a pedophile.

 King of Thieves

A 13-year-old Ukrainian girl, Mimma, is raped and forced into prostitution, after she and her brother are sold by their family to a thief.

 Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

 The Kite Runner (2007)

In one scene a boy is depicted being raped by an older boy. In a later scene, the rapist, (perhaps now a 40-year-old) Taliban activist, is said to have periodically taken young children from an orphanage, including a young boy who is revealed as a sort of pet slave, forced to dance for this man and presumably being sexually abused.

 Karla

Made in 2004 depicting the crimes of Karla Homolka and husband Paul Bernardo. The two raped and killed 4 girls, one girl being Karla's younger sister Tammy. The film shows many rape scenes, all with teenagers.

L Edit

 L.I.E., 2001, directed by Michael Cuesta

Howie, a 15-year-old boy, discovers that his best friend, a hustler named Gary, is a boy prostitute to Big John, a retired military officer. After Gary and Howie rob Big John's house, Big John proposes that Howie can pay for the stolen items by having sex with him; however, Big John apparently changes his mind and they don't have sex. Big John is killed by another teenager with whom he had had a sexual relationship.

 Lipstick, 1976 film, starring Mariel Hemingway

After her music teacher has raped her older sister and gets subsequently acquitted in court, a young girl is hunted down and raped by the man as well.

 Little Children, 2006 film

One of the main plot lines of this film concerns the release from prison of a pedophile and the effects of this event in his community.

 The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane, 1976, directed by Nicolas Gessner

Rynn is a 13-year-old, whose neighbor Frank, a pedophile, tries constantly to seduce her.

 Lolita, 1962, directed by Stanley Kubrick, starring James Mason and its 1997 remake, directed by Adrian Lyne, and starring Jeremy Irons[2]

 Life As A House

An older woman (Mary Steenburgen) begins an affair with her younger daughter's friend. Also, a teenage boy, (Hayden Christensen) prostitutes himself to older men for marijuana.

 The Last House on the Left

Two girls are held captive by a gang, who proceed to rape and kill them.

 Let the Right One In, 2008 film, directed by Tomas Alfredson

In the novel on which the film is based, the character Håkan is a pedophile. In the film, his relationship to the child vampire Eli is left open to interpretation.[4]

Les Amities Particulier (ROGER PEYREFITTE) paru en 1951

M Edit

 La Mala Educación, released in English as Bad Education, 2004, a Spanish film directed by Pedro Almodóvar

Two boys fall in love and are also abused by a priest at their school.

 Madea's Family Reunion

A character's daughter reveals that she was raped by her sister's father as a child.

 Marian, Again, 2005

 Mark of the Vampire (1935)

In the original Script (recorded media) Count Mora was supposed to be involved in an incestuous relationship with his daughter Luna, and to have committed suicide. After the filming began, however, all references to the crime were cut out of the script by MGM, and so the character played by Béla Lugosi is seen with noticeable, unexplained bullet hole on the side of his forehead. Because director Tod Browning’s previous film, Freaks, had been a box office disaster, Browning was unable to object to any changes made by the studio.

 Melissa P

A 2004 italian film about a 15 year old girl's sexual exploits, starring an actual 15 year old girl

 Mikres Aphrodites (In English "Young Aphrodites")

A Greek film (1963) directed by Nikos Koundouros. It is set in ancient Greece, about 200 B.C. The movie focuses on a wandering band of shepherds. They arrive in a small village where there are no men because they are away fishing. Two romances develop including pre-teens/early teens, with sexually explicit scenes presented in an elegant way. Two of the shepherds (a man and boy) fall in love with a man and a girl from the village.

 Mysterious Skin 2004 directed by Gregg Araki, from the novel of the same name by Scott Heim

Two adolescents molested as young boys have very different memories of their experiences.

 Mystic River

One of the film's central characters, Dave Boyle, is kidnapped, locked in a cellar and sexually abused for several days by two men.

N Edit

 Notes on a Scandal

A married art teacher has an affair with one of her 15-year-old students.

O Edit

 Oude Tongen, (Old Tongues), 1994 in film, directed by Gerardjan Rijnders[5]

 Oldboy, directed by Park Chan-Wook

 Old School (film)

Mitch Martin sleeps with High School student Darcie Goldberg

 Osama (film), directed by Siddiq Barmak in 2003. Tells a story about a 12-year-old girl who disguises herself as a boy to survive under the Taliban regime in Afganistan. At the end of the movie she is abused by a senior cleric figure obsessed with washing the genitalia of children to remove ritual impurity.

P Edit

 Palindromes

The 13 year old protagonist, Aviva, has intercourse with an adult truck driver.

 Platoon

Depicts a Vietnamese girl being raped by American soldiers during the Vietnam war.

 Pretty Baby, 1978 directed by Louis Malle and starring Brooke Shields[2]

Violet, a 12-year-old girl, is arranged to have her virginity sold before prostitution is made illegal.

 Precious

The titular character is sexually abused by her father and gives birth to two children, one of whom has Down Syndrome.

 Priest, 1994 British film

The protagonist becomes aware that a young member of his parish is being sexually abused by her father.

 Provoked, directed by Jag Mundhra and starring Aishwarya Rai

The film is based on the true story of Kiranjit Ahluwalia who killed her abusive husband.

 Primal Fear: directed by Gregory Hoblit, starring Richard Gere and Edward Norton.

Norton portrays a murder suspect who was sexually abused by an archbishop.

 Princess Aurora starring Uhm Jung-hwa

Soo-jung's daughter was raped and killed by a man.

Q Edit

 The Quiet

A 17-year-old girl has an incestuous relationship with her father. Although never clarified, the abuse seemed to start from a young age, but they did not start having intercourse until she reached puberty.

R Edit

 Rainbow Bird and Monster Man

 The Reader, 2008

A woman has a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old boy.

 Running Scared, 2006, directed by Wayne Kramer[6]

 Running with Scissors. 2006

A teenage boy named Augusten Burroughs befriends Neil Bookman, a grown adult male and the two begin a sexual love affair.

S Edit

 Scusa ma ti chiamo amore (2008 Italy) film directed by Federico Moccia.

A 17-year-old girl falls in love with a 37-year-old man. He gives up his family to marry the girl.

 Sin City, (2005) based on the graphic novel

Among the many separate stories, one features a scion of a powerful political family who is also a child molester and serial killer of young girls. Eight years after he is denied 11-year-old Nancy Callahan, he decides to track her down to finish the job.

 Sleepaway Camp

In a brief scene, a cook at a sleepaway camp is thwarted in his intention to molest a young girl

 Sleepers, 1996 film directed by Barry Levinson, based on the book Sleepers by Lorenzo Carcaterra[2]

 Soft Like Me (1996, by Jeffrey Erbach)

A short movie depicting boys enslaved by men on a farm.

 Something About Amelia

Story of a young girl sexually abused by her father.

 Speak

A freshman in high school is raped by an upperclassman at a party. This causes her to lose her friends and rarely speak.

 Summer of '42

Coming of age film

 Sybil

Hollywood drama of a young woman suffering from multiple personality disorder. She discovers in therapy that her illness is the result of having been sexually abused by her mother.

 The Sweet Hereafter

It is implied that a young girl has incestuous relations with her father.

T Edit

 Taxi Driver

 The Prince of Tides

Tom and Savanna Wingo are raped as children by escaped convicts.

 The Tin Drum

 Tommy

Pete Townshend's rock opera and 1969 double-album by The Who, adapted to film in 1975 by Ken Russell, whereby teenage Tommy (Roger Daltrey) is raped and sexually abused by his “teen-sitter”, his ‘wicked’ Uncle Ernie (Keith Moon).

 Total Eclipse

Leonardo DiCaprio plays a 16-year-old poet, who has an older man as a lover.

 Towelhead

 Trade

 Treasure Island

In the German adaptation from 2007 17-year-old Jim Hawkins is seduced by an adult female prostitute.

 Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me

 Twist of Faith, 2004, directed by Kirby Dick

Tony Comes survives sexual abuse by a Catholic priest.

 Two Women, 1960, directed by Vittorio De Sica

An Italian adolescent girl and her mother are raped by Moroccan Goumier soldiers during the Marocchinatewar rapes in World War II.

 The Lovely Bones, 2002, directed by Peter Jackson

Centers on a young girl who has been murdered and watches over her family - and her killer - from heaven. She must weigh her desire for vengeance against her desire for her family to heal.

U Edit

Un enfant dans la foule In 1944, Paul, 13 years old, is the evil liked by his family. In search of human warmth, it discovers homosexual relationship, on war bottom, and realizes that he can pick up the attention of certain men who bring him a sensual disease but always escaped... Un film de Gérard Blain avec Jean-François Cimino, César Chauveau, Annie Kovaks (France) Genre : Drame - Duree : 1H25 mn Editeur DVD : Eklipse Vidéo Sortie à la Vente en DVD le 18 Février 2004 Année de production : 1976

V Edit

 V for Vendetta, an Archbishop in the Church of England shows the intent to have sex with an underage girl before he is murdered by V.

 A Very Short Life, released in Hong Kong, 2009, tells the story of a young girl who was sexually assaulted by her mother's boyfriend. During her interrogation, the mother is physically forced to watch a videotape of them having sex. Child pornography is depicted in the film, but shown off-screen.

 La virgen de los sicarios, released in English as Our Lady of the Assassins, 2000, directed by Barbet Schroeder[7][citation needed]

An old writer has a sexual relationship with a young hitman in Medellín.

 Voor een verloren soldaat, 1992 Dutch film, released in the USA as For a Lost Soldier from the novel byDutch author Rudi van Dantzig

A 12-year-old boy falls in love with a Canadian soldier in Europe during World War II. The relationship becomes sexual; it's unclear if the soldier is in love with the boy.

W Edit

 The War Zone

 The Watchmen

Rorshach tracks down a missing girl and discovers the man who raped and killed her.

 Water

 Woman Thou Art Loosed

A woman named Michelle is a crack addict who was sexually abused and raped as a child by her mother's boyfriend Reggie.

 The Woodsman, a 2004 film directed by Nicole Kassell

The movie stars Kevin Bacon as a pedophile who must reintegrate into society after twelve years in prison for molesting two under aged girls.

 Wicked (film)

A young girl seduces her father after trying to replace her own mother.

Z Edit

Criminal investigations and true stories Edit

 The Boys of St. Vincent, 1992, directed by John N. Smith[2] and its sequel

 The Boys of St. Vincent: 15 Years Later, 1993, directed by John N. Smith

The two films chronicle abuse by priests at an orphanage in Canada and are based on true events. SeeCongregation of Christian Brothers

 Capturing the Friedmans, 2003 documentary directed by Andrew Jarecki

The controversy surrounding the conviction of a father and son for the abuse of children who came into their home for computer classes.

 Deliver Us from Evil, 2006, directed by Amy Berg

The true story of Catholic priest Father Oliver O'Grady, who abused both boys and girls.

 Do You Know the Muffin Man?, 1989, directed by Gilbert Cates

Ritual satanic sexual abuse and child pornography at a day-care centre.

 Gacy, 2003, directed by Clive Saunders

The story of John Wayne Gacy, a serial killer who preyed on young boys.

 I Know My First Name Is Steven, also released as The Missing Years, 1989, directed by Larry Elikann

The true story of Steven Stayner, who was abducted by Kenneth Parnell at age 7 and sexually abused for seven years before being reunited with his family.

 Indictment: The McMartin Trial, 1995, directed by Mick Jackson

The true story of the McMartin family who were wrongly accused of molesting preschool children.[2]

 Judgment Day: The Ellie Nesler Story, 1999, directed by Stephen Tolkin

Ellie Nesler shoots her son Willy's alleged molester during his trial.[2]

 Just Ask My Children, 2001, directed by Arvin Brown

The story of wrongfully accused parents from the Kern County child abuse cases.

 Just, Melvin: Just Evil, 2000, documentary directed by James Ronald Whitney

A grandfather sexually molests a number of family members.

 M, a German 1931 classic by Fritz Lang

About the hunt for a child molester and serial killer, played by Peter Lorre. The character is allegedly based onPeter Kürten. American remake in 1951.

 Menendez: A Killing in Beverly Hills, 1994, directed by Larry Elikann and Honor Thy Father and Mother: The True Story of the Menendez Murders 1994, directed by Paul Schneider

The story of the Menendez brothers who murdered their parents then claimed they had been abused as children.

 Our Fathers, 2005, directed by Dan Curtis from the book by David France

Boys have been abused by John Geoghan and other priests. See Roman Catholic sex abuse cases

 Pure Fiction, 1998, directed by Marian Handwerker

About a child sex abuse ring in Belgium.

 Sex Crimes and the Vatican (2006)

A documentary filmed for the BBC Panorama documentary series which detailed how the Vatican has used something called "Crimen sollicitationis" or secret documentation to silence allegations of sexual abuse by priests and how it was enforced for 20 years by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger before he became Pope Benedict XVI. [8]

 Stevie, 2002, directed by Steve James

A documentary about Stevie Fielding, an abused boy who became an abuser himself.

 Unspeakable Acts, 1990, directed by Linda Otto and featuring Joseph Mazzello, based on the novelUnspeakable Acts by Jan Hollingsworth

Sexual abuse at a Dade County daycare center; based on a true story.[2]

Further reading Edit

 Coming of Age: Movie and Video Guide by Don Lort. Companion Press, 1997. ISBN 1889138029

 The Moving Picture Boy: An International Encyclopaedia from 1895 to 1995 by John Holmstrom. Michael Russell Publishing, 1996. ISBN 0859551784

 Children in the Movies, by Neil Sinyard: a study of how childhood has been portrayed in films. Palgrave Macmillan, 1992. ISBN 031207574X

References Edit

1. ↑ Griffin, Drew; Johnston, Kathleen. "Priest makes 'most honest confession' of his life". CNN.com.http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/06/27/griffin.priestabuse/. Retrieved 2007-09-10.

2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Erotic innocence by James R. Kincaid, Duke University Press 1998

3. ↑ Filmmaker James Bolton's Eban and Charley, J.T. Leroy

4. ↑ Bjurvald, Anton (2008-10-24). "Intervju med regissören Thomas Alfredsson" (in Swedish). Allt om film.http://www.alltomfilm.se/ArticlePages/200810/24/20081024135429_DVD137/20081024135429_DVD137.dbp.asp. Retrieved 2009-03-14.

5. ↑ British Medical Journal, Views and reviews Just another nightmare? T Sheldon, April 9, 1994

6. ↑ FileThirteen.com Review of Running Scared (2006)

7. ↑ Bright Lights Film Journal Boys on the Side A Survey of Adult/Youth Relationships in Movies and TV, Gary Morris

8. ↑ BBC, Panoroma Sex crimes and the Vatican

Theatrical Releases

The Twilight Saga
I don't want to promote this movie by providing a link to it. For discussions on how vampire books and films romanticize domestic violence, please see:

Twilight and Abusive Relationships Official Blog of the Young Adult Library Services Association

Captain's Log - what do you see in him again? "According to the National Domestic Violence hotline, these are some signs that you may be in an emotionally or physically abusive relationship."

The Beautiful Undead London Review of Books

The Accused (1988) Amazon.com
Sarah Tobias (Jodi Foster) goes to her local bar and is gang-raped by three men. The district attorney on the case is Katheryn Murphy who wants to prove that although Sarah had taken drugs that night and was acting provocatively while in the bar, this is no reason for her to be so brutally attacked and the men responsible should be brought to justice.

Affliction (1999) Amazon.com
This is a painful depiction of a small town cop lost in a downward spiral of failure and anger...the "affliction" in the title is a legacy of family violence and abuse.

Bastard Out of Carolina (1996) Amazon.com
"This fine but shocking drama (which Ted Turner paid for and then refused to show on his cable outfits), based on the novel by Dorothy Allison, concerns extensive abuse endured by a girl (Jena Malone) at the hands of her stepfather (Ron Eldard), while her mother (Jennifer Jason Leigh) looks the other way. "

Carousel (1956) Amazon.com
A romantic musical in which the "hero" is a batterer.

Crimes of the Heart (1986) Amazon.com
Sissy Spacek, Jessica Lange, Diane Keaton play three southern sisters, one of whom shoots her abusive husband .

Enough. (2002) Amazon.com
An abused woman (Jennifer Lopez) discovers that the dream man she married wasn't whom she thought he was. She and her daughter try to escape (such as to her previous boyfriend), but he pursues relentlessly. Fearing also for the safety of her daughter, she decides that there's only one way out of the marriage: kill him.

Fried Green Tomatoes (1991) Amazon.com
A woman who is unhappy with her life befriends an old lady in a nursing home and is enthralled by the tales she tells of people she used to know, including a lover who was the victim of domestic violence. Central to the tale is the mystery of the missing batterer.

Gaslight (1944) - Amazon.com
"Beautiful and trusting, Paula Anton is slowly tormented by mysterious happenings in her luxurious Victorian home. The suspect is her devoted husband. But viewing the world through the dim glow of the gaslight, it is difficult to tell what is real and what is imagined. " A classic depiction of psychological abuse, with an Oscar-winning performance by Ingrid Bergman.

Great Santini (1979) Amazon.com
"The four Meechum kids and their mother move from Marine post to Marine post, following their father, a pilot, in the peaceful years before the Vietnam war. Bull Meechum, the self-described "great Santini," is manic: a martinet at once enthusiastic and abusive of his family. "

Oliver! (1968) Amazon.com
It's not just the orphans who are the victims of abuse. The lovely song "As Long as He Needs Me," is sung by a battered woman who keeps forgiving her abuser.

Once Were Warriors (1994) Amazon.com
A family descended from Maori warriors is bedeviled by a violent father and the societal problems of being treated as outcasts.

Petulia (1968) Amazon.com
"In this fragmented love story, told in a nonlinear fashion that bounces back and forth in time, George C. Scott plays a newly divorced surgeon who meets a charming if scattered young woman, Petulia (Julie Christie). He falls into an affair with her, only to discover that she is married to a seemingly normal guy (Richard Chamberlain)--who also happens to be extremely abusive." Petulia is in a classic violent relationship where the beatings are followed by major contrition.

Sleeping with the Enemy (1991) Amazon.com
Julia Roberts plays an abused wife who fakes her death and starts anew under a different identity in Iowa. Her psychopathic husband (Patrick Bergin) figures it out and stalks her and her new boyfriend (Kevin Anderson).

A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) Amazon.com

The Taming of the Shrew (1967) Amazon.com

Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) Amazon.com
Classic depiction of psychological abuse, with the victim in a wheelchair. Bette Davis, Joan Crawford.

What's Love Got to Do with It? (1993) Amazon.com
How Tina Turner rose to stardom with her abusive husband Ike Turner, and how she gained the courage to break free.

Made for TV
Black and Blue (True Stories Collection) Amazon.com
Based on a novel by Anna Quindlen (ONE TRUE THING), BLACK AND BLUE is a dramatic story that examines the fear and cruelty that surrounds domestic abuse. Frannie Benedetto (Mary Stuart Masterson) and her son Robert have fled their former home and move into a new neighborhood far away, adopting new identities in an effort to normalize their lives. They are fleeing from Robert's father Bobby (Anthony LaPaglia), whose position as a respected police detective prevents them from reporting his abusive nature to the authorities. But just as Frannie and Robert have managed to settle into their new community, making friends and finding hope, Robert's curiosity about his father may create an opportunity for Bobby to track down his former family and make them pay for fleeing him. BLACK AND BLUE boasts a talented cast and was directed by television veteran Paul Shapiro.

The Burning Bed Amazon.com
This film is based on the true story of Francine Hughes, a battered Michigan housewife who was prosecuted in 1977 for dousing her abusive husband with gasoline and setting him on fire as he slept. "This controversial, 1984 made-for-television movie gave Farrah Fawcett her first true showcase as an actress. Playing an abused wife who kills her monstrous husband (Paul Le Mat), Fawcett demonstrates a facility with the moral ambiguities of the story, which concerns the painful but fascinating questions of where justice lies. "

If Someone Had Known Amazon.com
"Katie Liner (Kellie Martin) is a teenaged girl with a bright future who is swept off her feet by an attractive, but dubious young man, Jimmy Pettit (Ivan Sergei). The two soon marry and live a storybook life on the outside. But, on the inside they live with a terrible secret he's physically abusive and she's too afraid to confide in anyone, especially her domineering father (Kevin Dobson), a police detective. When their son is born, the beatings increase in frequency due to Jimmy's jealousy over the baby. Yet, each time he apologizes and promises it will never happen again. Upon the impending birth of their second child, Katie realizes the situation will only get worse and makes an earnest attempt to leave her husband. When he threatens to kill her, she turns the tables and murders him in self defense. Faced with a life sentence, will a jury believe Katie's story and find her not guilty? "

The Unspoken Truth Amazon.com
"She confessed to his deadly crimeNow, she's changed her mind. When Brianne (Lea Thompson, Caroline in the City) first met Clay (James Marshall, Alien Lockdown) she thought that her dreams had come true but her problems were just beginning. Despite her parents' wishes, she marries him and the two soon have a daughter. Clay's violent behavior boils over when he sees a man talking to Brianne. In a fit of jealous rage, Clay shoots him dead. To avoid losing their freedom and each other, the couple decides to lie, claiming that Brianne shot the man by accident. However, the plan backfires and they both go to prison for life sentences. At first, Brianne believes that her love for her husband can prevail. But, when her father dies and authorities threaten to take away custody of her daughter, she's learns a horrible truth about her past. Her decision provides the heart-wrenching climax of this story. "

Shattered Dreams Amazon.com
"Charlotte marries John. Things seem ok; John has a good job and he's going up in the world, working for the government. But every so often he loses his temper and Charlotte gets the brunt of his anger. During the 18 year course of their marriage, there are at least 8 incidents of physical abuse and countless of mental. Charlotte's family and friends tell her to leave John but she keeps going back, most likely because he has convinced her that she would be nothing without him. It finally explodes in a big divorce battle balancing on the cases of abuse."

Dangerous Intentions Amazon.com
A man stalks his wife and child when they leave for an abused women's shelter. Donna Mills, Corben Bersen.

She Fought Alone Amazon.com
A young high school student is raped by a classmate. However, when word of the crime gets out, instead of condemning the rapist--a member of the school's championship football team--the other students jeer at and humiliate her, call her a "slut", accuse her of instigating the rape and pressure her to keep her mouth shut so "The Crew," as they call the football team, will still be able to play.

Documentaries & Short Films

NEW! Sin By Silence
Inside the California Institution for Women, the first inmate initiated and led group in U.S. prison history, shatters the misconceptions of domestic violence. Convicted Women Against Abuse (CWAA) was created in 1989 to help women inside prison break the silence about abuse and learn more about what they needed to do to help others stop the cycle of violence.

Instead of fighting a system that does not fully comprehend the complexities of abuse, the women of CWAA led an initiative to help educate the system. Through careful orchestration of letter writing campaigns, media coverage, and senate hearings a movement was born and laws for battered women were changed. And for the founder of CWAA, the flicker of hope begins to grow as her possible freedom, after 26 years in prison, lies moments away. Related articles

Defending Our Lives Cambridge Documentary Films
"The women in the documentary are members of 'Battered Women Fighting Back!' a grass-roots organization dedicated to exposing domestic violence as a critical human rights violation threatening the majority of the population: women and children. 'Battered Women Fighting Back!' began as a prison support group for battered women who had killed their abusers, and with the support of human rights activist, Stacey Kabat, developed into a community-based task force of over 100 volunteers."

A Jury of Her Peers Women Make Movies
"On a desolate American farm in the early 1900's, a farmer is found murdered in his sleep and his wife is jailed as the prime suspect. The highly anticipated re-release of this feminist film classic, a powerful adaptation of the 1917 Susan Glaspell short story, A JURY OF HER PEERS presents a riveting tale of revenge, justice and women's shared experience. Equally relevant in women's studies courses and for use with organizations battling violence against women, this riveting film probes the notion of women's victimization and justifiable homicide and opens the possibility for the creation of an alternate, feminist justice and judgment.
"Two women, a neighbor and the sheriff's wife, find themselves in the accused woman's kitchen while the prosecuting attorney and their husbands search the farm for motive for the crime. As the camera lingers on small details in the kitchen spilled sugar, a broken chair, crooked stitches in a quilt piece the motive becomes clear as the suspect's isolated life of physical and emotional abuse is revealed. As each new clue further incriminates the accused, the women must decide whether to reveal the evidence against her and become, in effect, a jury of her peers."

V-Day - Until the Violence Stops (2005) Amazon.com
Extraordinarily empowering and heartbreakingly funny, the Sundance favorite V-DAY: UNTIL THE VIOLENCE STOPS chronicles how Eve Ensler's hit Broadway solo show The Vagina Monologues grew into V-Day, an international grassroots movement to stop violence against women and girls. The first of its kind, The Vagina Monologues has been widely recognized as "a celebration of women's sexuality and a condemnation of its violation" (The New York Times) and praised as "frank, humorous and moving" (Chicago Tribune). Over eight hundred cities around the world have participated in V-Day by staging benefit performances of The Vagina Monologues. From locales as diverse as New York, the Phillippines and Kenya, director Abby Epstein's UNTIL THE VIOLENCE STOPS features emotionally charged interviews and readings by everyday and celebrity women (including Rosie Perez, Salma Hayek, Rosario Dawson, Jane Fonda and LisaGay Hamilton), all of whom courageously reveal their intimate experiences and bond together to break the silence that surrounds abuse. More than just a group testimonial, UNTIL THE VIOLENCE STOPS is a moving celebration of community awareness that leaves us with the hope that change can happen.

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Sexual Abuse Triggers in the Media

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