At the 88th Academy Awards, the short documentary “A Girl in the River – The Price of Forgiveness” took home the Oscar for best short documentary. Check out the trailer for the awarded movie, and hopefully, you’ll love to see more.
The movie is based on the practice of honor killing in Pakistan, where more than 1000 women are killed every year in the name of honor. Following the story of an 18-year old woman, the movie shows what happens to women in Pakistan. The 18-year old survivor escaped an attack by her uncle and father, and with the help of local police officer managed to get them imprisoned.
Sadly, now many women have the same courage and luck. Many fall victim to the honor crimes, but the director of the movie, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, hopes that her documentary will help raise awareness and contribute to the cause of helping women.
Sharmeen has launched an anti-honor killing campaign in Pakistan, and since the showing of the movie, Pakistani prime minister has agreed to take action, and vowed to eradicate honor killing. However, that is easily said than done, and it will take years for the philosophy in the country to change.
The problem with honor killing is that the murder is considered an offense against the individual, and not the state. The victims, if they survive, can then choose to forgive the perpetrator by law, which happens in most cases. And in the cases when the victims do not survive, the right offorgiveness falls to the family, which is usually the perpetrator to begin with.
