It’s a tragically acknowledged fact that rape has become an inevitable part of migration for many women. Often they flee sexual violence in their home countries only to experience it again en-route. But what’s less known is that even when they reach the safety of Europe, they have a significantly higher risk of being sexually assaulted. Then, they often accused of “fabricating” their abuse claims to gain residency papers. Some are even imprisoned in detention centres and threatened with deportation when they try to press charges.
In Marseille, in the practice of young Dr. Jeremy Khouani, women seeking asylum come to heal their wounds and tell their stories. Stories in which rape is central, omnipresent. He conducted a ground-breaking study with his patients, published in the prestigious journal ‘The Lancet’, which establishes factually what the patients of the Peyssonnel nursing home tell us, like an infernal triptych: the sexual violence that sends them on their way, the violence that marks them out, and the violence that still awaits them when they arrive in Europe.
A film in which the young Marseille doctor’s practice is the nerve center, where old and new patients meet. We follow the story of Hira, a young Pakistani woman threatened with deportation and her despair at not being recognized as the victim she is. We also follow Dr Khouani in his mobile consultations with migrants who have just arrived in France, desperate.
This film presents an original approach to the migration issue, focusing on women and the sexual violence to which they are systematically exposed.