ROLL RED ROLL Documentary movie

Introduction by Liesl Gerntholtz, Deputy Executive Director for Program and Executive Director for the Women's Rights program at Human Rights Watch

A sexual assault at a high-school football party in Steubenville, Ohio, became national news in 2012, leading to the sentencing of two key offenders and changing the small American town forever. Roll Red Roll goes beyond the headlines to unpack the factors that led to this attack and shaped its aftermath — from peer pressure, victim blaming, and the deeply ingrained attitude that “boys will be boys” to widespread cover-ups by members of the community. When a local blogger begins to sift through the social media profiles of those who attended the party and uncovers mountains of evidence, the community is forced to accept disturbing truths about their children and about themselves. Nancy Schwartzman’s true-crime documentary cuts to the heart of global debates around rape culture and unflinchingly asks: “Why didn’t anyone stop it?”


Guest
Liesl Gerntholtz
Liesl Gerntholtz is the executive director of the women's rights division at Human Rights Watch. She is an expert on women's rights in Africa and has worked and written extensively on violence against women and HIV/AIDS in southern Africa. Her work at Human Rights Watch has included documenting access to safe and legal abortion in Ireland and sexual and gender-based violence in Haiti in the aftermath of the earthquake. Before joining Human Rights Watch, Gerntholtz — a lawyer by training — worked for the South African Human Rights Commission and the Commission on Gender Equality.