Burden of Silence | Witness

One in three Native American women will experience sexual abuse at some point in their lifetime. That is more than twice the national average. And for the women of Alaska, the US state with the highest incidence of rape, the situation is particularly bleak. Donna Erikson is a Native Alaskan woman and a survivor of sexual abuse. She, and those who share this devastating history, are now embracing the transformative power of lifting the burden of silence within their community by speaking out about sexual assault. In Burden of Silence we hear her story and see, through the work of a Native Alaskan state trooper, the challenging reality of law enforcement for a crime that is so frequently hushed up by victim and victimiser alike.