The film, A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness (2015) is part of a series organised by the Council of Social Development to mark International Women’s Day on March 8. The critically acclaimed documentary film, directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, shines a light on the heinous practice of honour killings in Pakistan and succeeds in bringing global attention to the issue. Films like this mark a paradigm shift by advocating stronger laws to end the impunity of relatives who murder women, seen as a source of family ‘dishonor’. A discussion in CSD following the 45-minute film questioned the very concept of honour and why it is assumed to be gender specific. Discussants asked whether the rise the religious fervor on the domestic and international stage has lead to the rise of such regressive practices. But the subjugation of women takes many forms, and not in the most obvious ways such as honour killings. To address this phenomenon, it was felt, one needed a deeper understanding of gender dynamics and changing structures of patriarchy which could be done both at a collective and individual level.
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