Justice for my Sister

‘David versus Goliath’ story about the determination of Guatemalan Rebeca to find the assassin of her sister Adela and bring him to justice. Despite opposition, corruption and prejudice she seeks justice in a country where femicide (killing of women) is commonplace.

One day, 27-year-old Adele leaves home to go to work. She never returns. Adele is found by the side of the road, beaten up beyond all recognition by her former boyfriend. More than 6,000 women have been killed in Guatemala over the past ten years. In only two percent of the cases a murderer was convicted. Public opinion, fuelled by the media, is that victims ‘have probably asked for it’. Adeles sister, Rebeca, has the courage to stand up against Guatemala’s notoriously corrupt legal system on her own. Her three-year struggle is full of setbacks: a record that is missing, a judge who is accused of killing his own wife and witnesses who are too afraid to testify. In the end, however, Rebeca’s perseverance pays off, and her case illustrates that justice will also prevail in Guatemala.

Director Kimberly Bautista, too, faced gender-related violence while shooting the movie. Together with her crew, Bautista developed a strategy to assist women and to enable them to report sexual violence using their mobile phones.