Outlawed in Pakistan
Launched August 25, 2011
Outlawed in Pakistan is a documentary about the deeply entrenched tradition of honor killings in Pakistan. The film follows two strong women who narrowly escaped death at the hands of their families and are now struggling to find justice and begin new lives.
In parts of Pakistan today, women are perceived as property of men and are believed to personify the honor of their families. Local tribal assemblies, known as jirgas, often declare a woman kari, which literally means ‘black female’ or ‘tainted woman,’ if she marries someone of her own will or is rumored to have acted ‘dishonorably.’ In order to restore the family’s honor, the family or the tribe must kill these women.
Most, if not all, documentaries about honor killings tell stories of women who have already been murdered. “Outlawed in Pakistan” takes a new approach and shows the struggle of two women who have been declared kari and survive attempted honor killings. In video diaries and verité-style scenes, they tell their stories in the first-person. These narratives reveal the horrific abuse they endured as well as the heroic escapes they orchestrated, and show what it takes to survive in Pakistan once being declared a kari.
Around the world, the United Nation Population Fund estimates that about 5,000 women die every year because of honor killings, and experts say that this phenomenon is on the rise in Pakistan.
Grantee
Habiba Nosheen is a Gemini-nominated Pakistani-Canadian multimedia journalist who now lives and works in New York. She is a videographer and a radio reporter who is fluent in English, Urdu, Hindi...
Grantee
Hilke Schellmann is a video journalist for The Wall Street Journal.
She has worked as a Coordinating Producer for National Geographic
Television and on documentaries for the American Undercover...
Gateways
Habiba Nosheen delivers keynote lecture at Womanity, a summit on global women's issues at Arizona State University.
Short films and discussion on the global phenomenon of child brides, honor killings in Pakistan, adoptions and trafficking in Nepal, and reproductive health in Liberia.
How can journalists, writers, and public interest groups best shed light on issues facing women and children around the world while remaining sensitive to individual needs and concerns?
Pulitzer Center grantee Habiba Nosheen visits Ohio University to talk about the phenomena of rape and honor killings in Pakistan.
Habiba Nosheen and Hilke Schellman reporting on so-called honor killings in Pakistan where women are seen as property of men.
In Pakistan, hundreds of women die at the hands of their own family. A few who are lucky enough to escape these "honor killings" find refuge at secure shelters.
Kidnapped and raped by four men, a 17-year-old Pakistani girl fights an uphill battle against Pakistan’s trial procedures and the stigma of not submitting to an honor killing.
Pakistani women who marry against their family's will often face death threats. Some find refuge in local shelters.
Habiba Nosheen and Hilke Schellman reporting on so-called honor killings in Pakistan where women are seen as property of men.
In Pakistan, hundreds of women die at the hands of their own family. A few who are lucky enough to escape these "honor killings" find refuge at secure shelters.
Kidnapped and raped by four men, a 17-year-old Pakistani girl fights an uphill battle against Pakistan’s trial procedures and the stigma of not submitting to an honor killing.
Pakistani women who marry against their family's will often face death threats. Some find refuge in local shelters.
In Pakistan, hundreds of women die at the hands of their own family. A few who are lucky enough to escape these "honor killings" find refuge at secure shelters.