Events

FREE SCREENING of “The Invisible War” Plus Expert Panel.

Please join OARS and Strategic Living at a free screening of the movie The Invisible War on July 29th at 6:30 pm. Anyone is welcome to attend. This movie is about women serving in the military who experience violence against women. Audience members might experience a range of emotions.

The following information comes from Strategic Living website. For more information click here.

A female soldier in combat zones is more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire.

The Invisible War is a groundbreaking investigative documentary about one of America’s most shameful and best kept secrets: the epidemic of rape within the U.S. military. Focusing on the powerfully emotional stories of rape victims, The Invisible War is a moving indictment of the systemic cover-up of military sex crimes, chronicling the women’s struggles to rebuild their lives and fight for justice. It also features hard-hitting interviews with high-ranking military officials and embers of Congress that reveal the perfect storm of conditions that exist for rape in the military, its long-hidden history, and what can be done to bring about much-needed change.

At the core of the film are often heart-rending interviews with the rape survivors themselves— people like Kori Cioca, who was beaten and raped by her supervisor in the U.S. Coast Guard; Ariana Klay, a Marine who served in Iraq before being raped by a senior officer and his friend, then threatened with death; and Trina McDonald who was drugged and raped repeatedly by military policemen on her remote Naval station in Adak, Alaska. And it isn’t just women; according to one study’s estimate, one percent of men in the military— nearly 20,000 men —were reportedly sexually assaulted in 2009.

Strategic Living, LLC, is proud to make this screening available and free to the public on Tuesday, July 29, beginning at 6:30 pm. Doors open at 6:00, and you can arrive even earlier and hang out at the Mosaic Coffeehouse.
The Panel

Following this screening, a panel of experts in military sexual assault and trauma will give short presentations, and then we’ll open up for audience questions.

 Dr. Ann Cotton earned her doctoral degree in clinical psychology from Pacific University in 2000, completed her post doctoral training at the Seattle VA in 2001, and has worked there ever since treating Substance Use Disorders and PTSD. She first learned self-defense from Model Mugging of San Luis Obispo California, and is the co-creator of Taking Charge: Self-Defense Therapy for Women.

As a Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps, Ms. Julia Sheriden discovered that injuries change everything but don’t have to ruin a person. She founded Outreach And Resource Services (OARS) for Women Veterans, a 501(c)3 that helps women veterans’ transition from military life to civilian success. Ms. Sheriden has received many awards for her work with veterans, most notably the prestigious 2013 Jefferson Awards, a Nobel level recognition of her public service and volunteerism on behalf of women veterans.

Janis Clark is founder of Ladies Operation Moving Forward, a non-profit providing life skills and self-sufficiency training for women veterans to successfully transition back to civilian life. As a veteran herself, Janis understands how the unique needs of women veterans are overlooked or misunderstood, including addressing homelessness, unemployment, PTSD, military sexual trauma, and domestic violence