Absolutely.
Two and a half years ago, a human rights lawyer had been watching the Arab Spring and she realized that this issue of honour-based violence is something that had not been spoken about openly, especially by Muslim women themselves. I say this of course because I am a Muslim woman, and the incidence of honour-based violence is statistically the highest in Muslim-majority societies. I personally come from Pakistan where there are about 800 recorded cases of honour killings in one year. These, as I said, are just the reported cases.
There is very little prosecution. The penal code in Jordan, for example, contains a part that says that if a man kills a family member for honour, he will not be prosecuted. So we brought this film together to break those barriers of silence. There are nine women activists in the film, and these are the three issues they have talked about very openly without political correctness. Of course all of this is supported by United Nations and World Economic Forum statistics. It's not just to expose the problem but is also a call to action. Since this film was made, the laws in England have been changed. I believe that Bill S-7 actually addresses some of these issues, but there needs to be more awareness. The film has been used as a tool. It has been shown at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva and all across campuses in the United States and right here in Canada. We have had screenings with questions and answers, primarily to educate ordinary people to know that these problems exist not just out there but right here.
Just to give you one example, there have been 120,000 reported cases of female genital mutilation in the United States alone.