More than forty years after radical feminist Andrea Dworkin first imagined a single day without rape, a powerful new short film has brought her poignant words back to life with the support of prominent British celebrities.
The Haunting Legacy of Andrea Dworkin's Plea
In 1983, Andrea Dworkin delivered a speech that would echo through decades, comparing the relentless nature of sexual violence against women to plague-era wheelbarrows collecting corpses. "I want one day of respite," she told a room of 500 men. "One day off. One day in which no new bodies are piled up."
Today, filmmaker and activist Lorien Haynes has resurrected Dworkin's powerful appeal through I Want A 24-Hour Rape Truce, released this week to coincide with International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and the start of 16 Days of Activism.
The project features 120 diverse voices including Jason Isaacs, Dame Harriet Walter, Saffron Burrows, Nathan Fillion, Self Esteem, Lianne La Havas, and David Morrissey, all reciting Dworkin's words in a ten-minute collective performance.
The Stark Reality Behind the Film
The statistics that motivated this creative project remain devastating. 6.5 million women aged 16 or over in England and Wales have been raped, while globally, one in three women experience sexual violence during their lifetime.
Lorien Haynes explains the film's conception: "It's such a simple idea, but it's so fundamentally impactive because I don't think women have ever considered asking for a day without rape." She describes the thought process behind the project: "When you consider actually asking for it, you realise it's completely impossible. Then you realise you can't ask for just one day - you've got to ask every day."
The filmmaker deliberately chose creative storytelling over traditional documentary approaches, believing that "creative projects trick people into an environment where they feel relaxed" before confronting difficult truths.
Breaking the Silence Through Collective Voice
The emotional impact of reciting Dworkin's words proved profound during filming. "Women in particular couldn't get through it without breaking down," Haynes reveals, noting the raw truth in the feminist's decades-old words.
In one particularly moving moment, Esther McGregor cries while speaking the line: "For myself, I just want to experience one day of freedom before I die."
Haynes emphasises the importance of including both celebrities and everyday survivors without hierarchy. The film features multi-generational participation, including Esther McGregor with her mother, and Lenny James with his twin daughters.
Perhaps most significantly, male participants proved equally committed. "It was an opportunity for men to do something, and they all said yes," Haynes notes. "I don't think any man I asked said no." She specifically praises David Morrissey and Jason Isaacs for their consistent support of Refuge's initiatives.
The project emerges alongside Metro's year-long This Is Not Right campaign, launched on November 25, 2024, to address what it describes as "the relentless epidemic of violence against women."
Current statistics underscore the urgency: in 2023, an average of 24 rapes were reported to the Metropolitan Police daily, with five in six women never reporting their assaults. Most concerningly, six in seven rapes are committed by someone known to the survivor, with half perpetrated by current or former partners.
Haynes concludes with a call for education: "We know how to change things. We know what the issues are. It always comes back to trying to integrate that knowledge into early education." Without such action, she fears we'll be asking in twenty years: "How the hell have we got here?" - a question that already feels overdue.
