KEEP QUIET AND FORGIVE began with a simple curiosity: What do Amish women care about? What do they talk about among themselves? What issues are important to them? Who are the women inside one of the world’s most insular communities? As a journalist, who has reported on numerous groups and cultures across the globe for over a decade, I’ve always been drawn to the unheard story. In 2018, I began pursuing a story about Amish women fighting back against a church coverup of sexual abuse.
After publishing the year-long investigation in Cosmopolitan Magazine in partnership with Type Investigations, I spoke at length with these women about a documentary. I wondered: Would a community known for silence accept a film like this? The answer from the women was a resounding YES. No one had ever invited them to share their stories in such an intimate, raw and honest way. I wasn’t looking to sensationalize them; I wanted to understand their way of life without expectations or demands. It turns out, they didn’t want to live separately from the world, always, but they were willing to fight for their place in it.
As a Mexican-American journalist born and raised in Southern California, I was an unlikely candidate to embed with this group. Yet, over the years, I found connections and friendships among Amish and Mennonite women. I discovered that these rural farmland communities, from from the cities of Los Angeles or New York City, are home to some of the most beautiful souls, yet toughest and fiercely loving and compassionate women I have ever had the honor to meet. It has been the honor of a lifetime to play a small part in helping them break their silence and find their audience.
Thank you for watching KEEP QUIET AND FORGIVE.
Sarah McClure
Director - KEEP QUIET AND FORGIVE
Based on groundbreaking reporting, KEEP QUIET AND FORGIVE follows the courageous journey of Lizzie, a former Amish woman who breaks her silence about sexual abuse in her community and ignites a nationwide movement of Amish survivors. Growing up in a traditional Minnesotan Amish community, Lizzie was taught to “forgive and forget.” But nearly 30 years after experiencing her own traumatic rape, she takes the bold step to report her case to the police — challenging Amish communities everywhere to confront and address hidden abuse.
As Lizzie travels across the country, she becomes a beacon of hope for Amish and Mennonite survivors grappling with generational trauma, deep-rooted shame, and sometimes thoughts of suicide. Her mission doesn’t stop at breaking the silence; she also helps others navigate the difficult path of rebuilding their lives after being excommunicated from the Amish culture.
Filmed over five years in Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida, Missouri, Indiana, and Wisconsin, KEEP QUIET AND FORGIVE offers an eye-opening look into one of the world’s most secretive communities. With Lizzie as our guide, we meet a diverse cast of brave individuals determined to find their voices. Among them is Menno, who shares his heart-wrenching story of losing after fleeing an abusive home. Then there’s Katrina, facing intense pressure to drop charges against her rapist, and Elizabeth, who finds resilience as she builds a new life after helping convict her abusive husband.
Together with her friend Dena, also a former Amish woman, Lizzie takes a monumental step to co-found the first Amish survivors’ support group, Voices of Hope. Their mission is clear: to stop the generational cycle of abuse.
KEEP QUIET AND FORGIVE testifies to the transformative power of a survivor’s movement working towards healing and justice and of one that reverberates beyond the Amish community, inviting all to join in the fight against oppression and to celebrate the strength of the human spirit.