It's a Girl: The Three Deadliest Words in the World
It's a Girl: The Three Deadliest Words in the World is a 2012 documentary film which explores the practice of female infanticide.[1] It was directed by Evan Grae Davis[2] and focused primarily on India and China.[3] The United Nations has estimated that up to 200 million females are "missing" today, most of whom would have lived in India and China.[4] The film took four years to shoot.[5]
| Part of a series on |
| Violence against women |
|---|
| Issues |
| Killing |
| Sexual assault and rape |
| International legal framework |
| Related topics |
The documentary opens in India, the scene is of a woman standing in a field, who is explaining that she had killed eight of her newborns by strangulation as they were female.[4] Davis had initially set out to create a documentary on sex trafficking and on women being exploited. Having listened to the story from the Indian woman, Davis switched direction, scrapping his first idea, and instead created a documentary with the sole focus being gendercide. Davis focused on China and female infanticide in India, as cultural norms, combined with such cultural practices as India's dowry system and China's one-child policy, have an important role in the practice.[4]
Evan Grae Davis has worked for the Harvest Media Ministry, an organization that makes pro-life videos for church groups.[6]
Filming + Production
In the documentary, Davis interviewed social workers, women in rural communities and activists. He found that the primary cause for the practice was poverty, but also that the cultural norms which leads to awith twin girls, her husband and mother in law asked her to terminate the pregnancy. She refused, and as a result her husband threw her down the stairs and then locked her up. She managed to get away, and had her children two months early. She has since campaigned to have her husband, as well as the doctor who carried out the illegal ultrasound arrested, but charges have never been brought.[7]
It is estimated that there are 37 million more males than females in China. The documentary also looks into the ever-increasing rate of female suicide in China, it explores the connection between suicide and the low value placed on females due to cultural norms. The Chinese government has recently said it would begin to phase out the one child policy, which may help reduce female infanticide in China. However, according to the documentary, cultural values also need to change so that families are as happy having a daughter as they are having a son.[8]
Screenings
The documentary has been screened at Amnesty International's seventh Amnesty Reel Awareness Film Festival in Toronto, and at the European Parliament in Brussels.[7] Human rights journalist Ram Mashru, who worked with Davis to raise awareness of the issue, took part in a Q&A after two student societies at the University of Oxford, Lawyers Without Borders and Women for Women International, screened the documentary at the Saskatchewan Theatre in Exeter College, Oxford.[9]
References
Bibliography
- DeLugan, Robin Maria (2013). "Exposing Gendercide in India and China (Davis, Brown, and Denier's It's a Girl—the Three Deadliest Words in the World)". Current Anthropology. University of Chicago Press. 54 (5): 649–650. doi:10.1086/672365. JSTOR 10.1086/672365.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Harmon, A. G. (18 October 2012). "The Three Deadliest Words in the World: It's a Girl". Patheos. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
- Izri, Touria (14 November 2012). "It's a girl documentary explores gendercide in China and India". The Star. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
- Lu, Angela (28 June 2013). "Millions missing". World. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
- Mashru, Ram (18 January 2012). "It's a girl: The three deadliest words in the world". The Independent. Archived from the original on 12 December 2013. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
- Mashru, Ram (24 January 2013). "Film Screening: 'It's A Girl: The Three Deadliest Words in the World'". University of Oxford. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
- Mattes, Brad (7 October 2012). "Three Deadliest Words in the World: It's a Girl". Life News. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
- Rajpal, Roma (30 January 2013). "'It's a girl'". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
- Virk, Zakaria (15 November 2012). "It's a girl – 3 deadliest words in the world". The Muslim Times. Retrieved 17 November 2013.