Brave Miss World
Miss Israel Linor Abargil was abducted, stabbed, and raped in Milan, Italy, at age 18. She had to represent her country in the Miss World competition only six weeks later. When to her shock she was crowned the winner, she vowed to do something about rape. The film follows her from the rape, to her crowning and through her crusade to fight for justice and break the silence. During her travels to speak out and meet with other rape victims, her own trauma begins to resurface. Her serial rapist becomes eligible for parole, and she has to hunt down his previous victims in order to help keep him behind bars. The film explores the trauma of sexual assault through one young woman's journey from teenage rape victim to Miss World to empowered lawyer and activist.
The film was produced by Cecilia Peck, is a Primetime Emmy award nominee 2014 and now streaming exclusively on Netflix.
Now a globe-trotting victims’ advocate, Linor encourages others to stand against sexual violence by putting an end to their silence. She travels to speak with teens in South Africa, where girls are statistically more likely to be raped than educated. She visits U.S. college campuses where women describe a campus culture that fails to take assaults seriously. From rape crisis centers worldwide, to Hollywood’s living rooms, Linor is met with emotional support, but the advocacy work causes her own trauma to resurface. When she attends a celebrity rape trial that hits too close to home, she suffers a breakdown and symptoms of PTSD. In searching for something to ease her pain, Linor turns to Orthodox Judaism. "It's like losing a daughter," her secular mother laments. "But better than alcohol, anorexia, bulimia, or so many other crises that can happen to victims." Linor returns to Italy for the first time since her rape, in an attempt to face her fears and to find the prosecutor who collaborated with Israeli authorities to arrest the serial rapist. While there, in an extraordinary twist of fate, she meets up with another woman raped by the same man in eerily identical circumstances. For victims of sexual assault, the journey toward wholeness never ends; still, Linor Abargil, the BRAVE MISS WORLD, continues her unflinching efforts to keep the nightmares at bay.
To read more about Linor, speak out or get help please visit her web site: www.bravemissworld.com
I heard Linor's story at the Choices event, she was one of the speakers. She had such a big impact on me. I was speechless. Her words and story are so poignant-she reaches right for the heart! Have you ever been in a room with 670 women and NO one is talking!?! This is how powerful it was! When I got home, I couldn't wait and went directly on Netflix to watch her documentary. I also had the privilege of meeting her in person last Sunday at a screen of her movie in Montreal. She was such a big inspiration to me that I wanted to share it with you.
YES, she's very tall. I look like a miniature person!