The Invisible WarFriday, 6pm“Is this a joke to you? You think this is funny? You’re the third girl to report rape this week. Are you all in cahoots? Is this some kind of game?”This, according to one of the many harrowing interviews featured in ‘The Invisible War’, was the response by a Lieutenant Commander in the US Navy to a servicewoman reporting her own rape.Unwittingly, his statement encapsulates the primary issues underpinning the film: the breathtaking scale of the problem of sexual assault within the US military and the breathtaking incompetence, and often outright hostility, with which the problem is addressed.This is documentary filmmaking at its finest. At the film’s core are the personal stories of a group of female veterans from all the US services (Army, Marines, Navy, Coast Guard, Air Force).At first, they take us through their military careers, from their idealism at recruitment, through pride at their achievements while in active service, up to the moment when everything was taken from them at the hands of a sexual predator.We see them struggle to come to terms with the trauma, we see them fighting for justice, we see the effect the incidents have on their loved ones.But as we go through these narratives, the film’s lens widens and widens. We are treated to some astonishing and terrifying statistics gleaned from US military studies, not least that 20 percent of all female veterans have been sexually assaulted, and that 15 percent of incoming recruits have attempted or committed rape — more than twice the equivalent civilian population.As the lens pans out, we hear not just female stories, but male stories as well. We learn that one percent of serving males report sexual assaults.As men vastly outnumber women in the services and are also far less likely to report sexual assault, it is clear that the numbers concerning men are even greater than they are for women ... and the numbers for reported female assaults are nothing short of staggering.And still the lens widens. We are shown a Kafkaesque military justice system that, by design, appears to be completely ineffective at policing sexual assault.Clever graphics hammer home the absurd workflow of the vast case load, with most avenues leading to nothing being done.Put simply, complaints must go up the chain of command. Misogynistic incredulity, per the opening line of this review, appears to be the most common, and indeed one of the better responses.Worst case, the chain of command has been directly compromised by the sexual predator himself.As the lens widens, it gets nastier. We see spurious lip-service paid to the problem in the form of big-budget ad campaigns, implying the fault lies with the victim.We are given profiles of sexual predators and persuasive arguments as to why the military proves a fine hunting ground for them.We hear of the punishments meted out to victims for reporting their cases, including ridiculous charges of adultery or unbecoming conduct.And still it gets worse. We are shown high-profile cases of systematic, institutionalised targeting of victims. And still nothing is done.It seems that the military is not just incapable of dealing with the problem, but also unwilling. And throughout the film, the human cost of this colossal failure is conveyed to us on a visceral and personal level.But where is the hope? Well, the film so brilliantly conveys the extent of the problem from the ground up, and offers such common sense solutions, that one gets the feeling that it will not be ignored.Indeed a quick Google search reveals the Pentagon has already changed a number of procedures on the strength of the film.Yes, it appears there is hope for the military. And displaying such resilience and courage, it is the victims themselves who give hope to the rest of us. A must-see.