Although I am not entirely sure of when these inhumane treatments transpired, I am positive that Offred was of clear and sound mind while experiencing them. As her legal representative, I understand that the Republic of Gilead is a government, that its leaders refer to the Republic as such. However, I do not believe that Gilead is anything more than the result of an illegal coup, whose perpetrators have occupied a portion of the United States. 

The Republic of Gilead is an oppressive theocracy that uses violence and religious derived persecution tactics to subjugate a significant portion of its population. Anyone that does not subscribe to the ideologies of the state is subsequently punished or executed. This reality is especially prevalent in the lives of  “fertile women,” Gilead's most precious commodity.

Offred was kidnapped and separated from her family some years ago in the northeastern territory of the former United States of America. Her husband, shot in the middle of the woods. Her young child, stolen from her in those same woods by the Republics’ forces, never to be seen again. She is not alone in this story, many women were taken from the lives they knew by religious fanatics in the name of God and repopulation. She, and a host of other women, were forcibly conditioned into what the Republic of Gilead refer to as Handmaids.

To understand exactly what Offred experienced, I must reiterate the laws of the land that these pseudo-Christians call The Republic of Gilead. There, it is illegal for women to read, write, or be engaged in anything of the sort. Women have no rights outside of those afforded to their specific class. They are prohibited to speak to men unless spoken to. Abortion is also against the law—as well as walking alone and even any non-heteronormative behavior or feelings. Meanwhile, ritual sexual assault and rape are sanctioned by the government. Under Gilead’s rule, women are stripped of their human rights, living in constant fear of persecution for expressing or acting out their personal beliefs. Their jaded ideology spits in the face of all the human rights laws put in place over the last century. As I shed light on the experiences described in my client’s complaint form, you will see that Gilead’s terrorist dictators are bent on the subjugation of women and the proliferation of right-wing Christian white male values.

As I shed light on the experiences described in my client’s complaint form, you will see that Gilead’s terrorist dictators are bent on the subjugation of women and the proliferation of right-wing Christian white male values.

We must first address the public shame and fear Offred experienced on a regular basis. We can see this through her interactions with those visiting Gilead. In one instance, Offred and her walking partner are forced to interact with Japanese visitors. When asked by the visitors if they are happy, they are smart enough to respond positively and say that they are (Atwood, 29). This would obviously be the ideal answer; what would you say in a country where you have no rights and free speech is punishable by death? Indeed, although Handmaids are not seen anywhere else in the world, they must act as living spectacles, forced to appear pious and meek before outsiders, lest they encounter the wrath of Gilead’s many Eyes and Angels. (As you may know, Eyes and Angels serve as the police and spies within and without Gileadean households and society.) Such spectacle is all that keeps them from being on the wall, where Gilead puts those they deem traitors of the state. The wall can be compared to the cruel and unusual tactic performed by the Roman Empire. Throughout the history of the great conquerors, crucifixions and public executions were used to instill fear and pride of the regime into the hearts of the people. Gilead learned that fear was an effective tool against the empowered woman, or sympathizing man. Those on the wall must remain there simply because of sexual orientation, religious sect, or previous occupation (Atwood, 32 & 43). Any sane person would live under constant fear and worry in these circumstances.

Let’s continue with the ritual sexual assault and rape that Offred suffered from Fred Waterford and his wife, Serena Joy, justified by Gilead as a “Ceremony.” Women are conditioned in places such as “Rachel and Leah Centers,” or “Red Centers” as the handmaids call them, to blame themselves for such acts of rape. Imagine sitting in front of a classroom on your knees and being berated by your classmates, yelling “Her fault, her fault, her fault” at you after explaining how you have suffered sexual violence from a man (Atwood, 72).  This was done in preparation for the monthly assault the handmaids would endure at their posts. The “Ceremony” itself takes the biblical story of Rachel and Leah out of context , twisting it into a sick ritual that fulfills the needs of Gilead’s men and their hunger for children. The ritual begins with all the members of the household gathering for the reading of the Bible by the Commander, which is locked up by law (Indeed, why would one need the Bible in a place where reading itself is illegal?). Then the Handmaid, Wife, and Commander head up to the bedroom, where the Wife holds down the Handmaid and the Commander inserts himself until he is relieved (Atwood, 87-88 & 93-95). This is the exact ceremony which was played out by those in Commander Waterford’s government provided home.

This is not the only time that Offred’s captors endangered her life to suit their whims. In a country where reading is illegal for women and handmaids are not allowed to be alone with Commanders, why then would Commander Waterford summon Offred to come play scrabble with him at night in his office alone (Atwood, 136)?  An enslaved person has no choice in such matters. Certainly, Commander Waterford never thought of the ethical implications of ordering an unwilling enslaved woman to a place called Jezebel’s, to have unwanted sex with her (Atwood, 232). Why would he? He’s a Commander, safe from all retribution,  whereas Offred would be mutilated, hung, or sent to work in a toxic, radiation filled labor colony as an “Unwoman.” For her part, if Serena had borne witness to this, she would have grounds to punish Offred severely and even get her killed. Indeed, why on God’s green earth did Serena plot to have Offred sleep with Guardian of the house in order to conceive her a child (Atwood, 260)? The penalty for this transgression, under Gilead’s law, would also be death for everyone involved.

Offred is not alone. All over the former United States of America Gileadean forces have kidnapped and enslaved countless people. Entire families were separated from each other with no explanation, seemingly overnight. In the span of what seems like days, Offred herself lost her job, her family, and her very life was gone for the foreseeable future. The entire country’s constitutional rights were instantly dissolved as the occupation began. Presently, Gilead’s women are divided into classes. First, we have the Unwomen, the lowest class, who are either forced to work in places such as forced labor camps or Jezebel’s, a secret male prostitution bar for the elite and foreign dignitaries. Second, we have Handmaids such as Offred, who are subject to sexual assault by way of “The Ceremony” (Atwood, 16). Third, we have wives, the crème de la crème of what a woman can be in Gilead, permitted to mingle with house help, handmaids, and other wives only; Finally, we have Marha’s, infertile women assigned to serving the elite families of Gilead. Indeed, handmaids all over Gilead exist in enslavement, donning numbered tattoos on their ankles that mark them, not as people, but as property of the nation (Atwood, 65). This is mass slavery, the likes of which have not been seen since the nineteenth century. Gilead, which may have begun with intentions to heal a barren and starving nation, has become an expression of excess and power for the men of an oppressive doctrine.

It is clear that Offred, afraid for her life and under constant surveillance, had no choice in any actions described in this report. Although this form represents only a fraction of Offred’s experiences, the incidents in this account constitute more than any person, any woman, should have to bear. After separating Offred from her entire family, taking her child and her husband from her in one fell swoop,  the so-called Republic of Gilead forced her to use her body as a vessel for another woman’s child. What verse in the Bible could ever justify such forced surrogacy?

Author’s Postscript:

This complaint was written for my Law Through Literature class in the Spring of 2023. It is a written accusation to an International court based on the events that took place in the book The Handmaid’s Tale. The complaint represents how I would approach pleading Offred's case before a court of International Law. Offred is the main protagonist in this novel. It focuses on how her life with her husband and daughter were swiftly snatched away by a theocratic coup. I hope to describe in great detail the ordeals that Offred, and the other Handmaids, experienced at the hands of the top brass of Gilead. I wished to emphasize the fanaticism and inhumane treatment that is wrapped in the religious purity of this fictional theocracy.

I found it interesting how the author, Margaret Atwood, showed how easy it was to corrupt the teachings of the Bible to create this all too possible dystopia. Throughout history, it is evident that religious texts are taken out of context, oftentimes to benefit one portion of a population over another. This leads to the glorification and worship of people as Messiahs or prophets, resulting in religious cults. Atwood’s novel perfectly displays the worst of religion, the effects of its literalist applications, and its oppressive capabilities.