A Series on "Walang Rape sa Bontok"

The eleventh film I watched in the cinema is a documentary entitled Walang Rape sa Bontok, shown in UP Theater. It investigates whether the Bontok culture (the old, declining one) has a concept of rape, for at the outset: (1) they do not have a word for it, and (2) their laws do not have punishment for its commission.

The film identifies six factors that had prevented the emergence of the concept of rape in Bontok:

1. Spiritual and moral beliefs
2. Physical structure of the community
3. Customs of "tribal" war
4. Gender beliefs
5. Views on relationships between men and women, nudity, and sex
6. Work in the field

What I like about it

The presentation is clear and organized, which reminded me of writing philosophical papers. That is probably why I decided to write about it. Each factor has its own segment in which the aspects of the culture is examined. Evidence for each factor consists of the accounts of the elders who last experienced growing up in the old Bontok ways and data from the previous study conducted decades earlier. The elders of (I think) three Bontok communities were chosen on the basis of their having the lowest reported incidence of rape, which, if I remember correctly, is zero in the span of some years (sorry, I forgot how many).

The factors presented address the circumstances in our society that usually lead to rape. It makes one (me, at least) question the modern day notions in society: what we hold dear and why we consider them important. These are what I want to discuss in a series of posts reflecting on the six factors. While it is important to emphasize that the existence of ALL the six made (the old) Bontok rapeless, each factor is interesting to consider in itself.