SOUTH Asian Women Against Violence Against Women are hosting a movie screening of Honor Diaries free of charge on Sunday, April 5 at 1 p.m. at Scottsdale at 7955 122nd Street in Surrey.
You can contact reetusran@hotmail.com or tsangha@hotmail.ca for free tickets.
Honor Diaries is about nine activists who have come together to face the human rights tragedy affecting hundreds of millions of women that want to start a movement for change. It’s their story and the story of the women they are fighting for. This is one of the most alarming human rights issue in the world.
The treatment of women worldwide is definitely a cause for concern because there are many societies in which women are suppressed.
The film covers four topics. 1. Gender inequality. 2. Female genital mutilation (happens to about 6,000 girls daily). 3. Forced marriages (child marriages). 4. Honor violence (honor killing).
They discuss what honor means to them.
Jaswinder Sanghera, director of Karma Nirvana, states: “We were taught that as young women we have the power to dishonor our family because the reputation and the honor of the family, the position was invested in our behavior.”
The concept of honor is difficult to explain to Western societies.
Women are conditioned to a raft of honor codes within the family where they are taught not to shame or dishonor the family. The honor system that exists in many cultural societies is really the basis of a lot of harm that is perpetuated against a lot of women.
We live in a country we have freedom of voice. Let’s utilize it. In order to help these women, we need to have a united front because there is strength in numbers.
Be the change, make our voice heard. Take action to save women now.
(Contributed by South Asian Women Against Violence Against Women)
