The German Film “Luisa” Reveals Common Threat in Institutions For Disabled Women: Sexual Violence
(Content Warning: Sexual Assault, Rape, Violence)
The film “Luisa” is about 21-year-old Luisa, who lives in an institution for people with intellectual disabilities. She leaves her parents’ house behind in the hopes of gaining more independence and doing what she loves: socializing and partying. Luisa also has a boyfriend living in a shared flat with a 24/7 aide. After a party in Luisa’s facility, she gets raped by one of the caretakers. The film revolves around Luisa’s inner conflict over whether to talk about what happened and the reactions of the people she later confides in.
That’s the easily told plot summary, but the problems lie far deeper.
Sexual violence and disabled women
The first study about sexual violence experiences of disabled women and girls was released in Germany by the Ministry of Education, Family, Elderly People, Women and Youth in 2011. It revealed that compared to non-disabled women, disabled women experience sexual harassment, assault or rape twice to three times more often.
In 2024, the same Ministry released another study, this time examining disabled people in institutions such as nursing homes or sheltered workshops. Again, the results were devastating. 26 percent of disabled people working in sheltered workshops experienced sexual violence through staff members or carers. So, Luisa’s story is not rare. It is not a single case. It is not an exceptional occasion, as leadership in care homes or the media like to frame these many incidents. The risk of violence is part of disabled women’s daily life, and this is not only a German problem.
In other countries, the findings are strikingly similar. Research across Europe, North America, and globally consistently demonstrates that women and girls with disabilities face significantly higher rates of sexual, physical, and psychological violence than non-disabled women.
No support system for disabled women who experience violence
Before director Julia Roesler and her team started shooting, they thoroughly researched the situation of disabled people in institutions. “We were allowed to have a look into the archives of documented cases of rape. We also talked to parents of disabled people who experienced violence as well as caretakers in institutions. We decided not to talk to the affected women because almost none have access to mental health care,“ Roesler says. Unfortunately, this is true. In Germany, there’s a long waiting list to see a therapist in general. However, if one is disabled, it becomes almost impossible to find someone who understands the nuances of ableism and violence. On top of it, for women with cognitive or intellectual disabilities or for women with complex and multiple disabilities, there’s no support system; not only in terms of mental health care, but also to find shelter in case of an active threat. So Roesler was rightfully worried she’d re-traumatize women who survived violence.
The film vividly shows the consequences of this lack of support for Luisa, who has to deal with what happened alone. The usually lively woman becomes introverted and quiet; she starts to wet her pants and stops eating. As we don’t see the actual incident in the film, the only way we as viewers become aware of it is when she spits at the person who raped her, when he enters her room asking if she was fine.
Just like in reality, in the film, very few people know how to approach Luisa or earn her trust so she will actually open up. Luisa eventually talks about her experience when she finds out she is pregnant. When her parents discuss whether Luisa should have an abortion, Luisa steps in. She shouts at them, “I can hear you! I don’t want a child. I don’t want to keep it!”, emphasizing that people with intellectual disabilities are well capable of making their own decisions, which society often doesn’t allow.
Anne Leichtfuß knows. Leichtfuß is a translator for Easy Language in Germany and has a blog about popular people (“Einfach Stars”) in Easy Language, because why wouldn’t people with intellectual disabilities like a bit of gossip? Leichtfuß often translates critical content for her target audience. For instance, she has worked on the project #AbleismusTötet (translates to “ableism kills”), which documented violence in German nursing homes from 2010 onwards. Leichtfuß translates all text and audio content to make it accessible to people with intellectual disabilities.
Leichtfuß constantly advocates for the use of Easy Language, but runs into walls just as often. In the past, she tried offering communication courses to health care professionals. Eventually, she had to give up, because many doctors would not understand why they should be talking to the disabled person and not their parents or caretaker. “We simulated a situation where health care professionals had to explain to their patient with an intellectual disability that their parents want them to take contraceptives. The patient consistently said they did not want to take any medication. The doctor kept pushing but never asked their patient WHY they did not want to take it. If they had, they would have found out that the patient does not have sex or was not planning to have sex in the near future. Otherwise, they would gladly ask for a contraceptive prescription… It’s all about communication. But the doctor did not even consider their patient having their own opinion,” Leichtfuß says.
Finding disabled actors
“Society needs to start listening to us, rather than just talking about us, because we have something to say, and we belong to this society, just as everyone else,” activist Natalie Dedreux adds. This “Nothing about us, without us” narrative is particularly important for people with intellectual disabilities, who, in case of violence, are often not believed. #AbleismusTötet mentions several cases of violence against women with intellectual disabilities who have reported the violence to several people until they were taken seriously. No other group within the community is being treated like this. So it is even more important that the disabled characters in “Luisa” are played by disabled actors. Director Roesler says she wanted the film to be authentic, but finding these actors wasn’t particularly easy, as there are still fairly few disabled actors in Germany in general, and even fewer actors with intellectual disabilities. It took a while to find the right ensemble. In the end, Roesler went with “Meine Damen und Herren” (roughly translates to “Dear Ladies and Gentlemen”), an ensemble that belongs to a sheltered workshop group based in Hamburg. She acknowledges that although the actors were absolutely perfect for the film, it still feels strange to know that they didn’t get the regular actor’s salary – people in sheltered workshops in Germany only earn about 2 euros or less an hour, which is far below minimum wage.
Unanswered questions
The film leaves the viewer in an uncomfortable state. While it shows (some of) the reasons why life in institutions is so dangerous for disabled people, it does not tell us what we can do to help. It doesn’t enable us to empower people with learning and cognitive disabilities to, first, understand when they experience sexual violence, and, secondly, to speak up against it in whatever way they are capable of. How can we, as the viewer, recognize violence and learn how to communicate with disabled people in general properly, but people with intellectual disabilities in particular?
This film is so important because violence against people with disabilities is common, but it is rarely talked about. “Luisa” raises awareness for the issues that arise when people with disabilities live in closed institutions. It gives us a rare glimpse behind the curtain where non-disabled people usually don’t get to go. It shows people with intellectual disabilities not only have a voice, but also that they must be heard and taken seriously. While it’s unrealistic that Germany will change its well-established system of separation anytime soon – the UN-CRPD has been ratified many years but Germany has not changed much about the institutionalization of disabled people – this film is a crucial piece of the puzzle that hopefully, long-term, will help disabled people live in a safe environment, as independent as possible and with the people they choose to live with. They can and must make those decisions by themselves.
(The film is available with English, French and Chinese subtitles.)
Feature Image: Director Julia Roesler stands on the set of “Luisa” holding film equipment during the filming of a scene at a Halloween party. Credit: Daniel Pilar
