Women in Film

Desert Flower - Fight Against Genital Mutilation

Sunitha Krishnan's Fight Against Sex Slavery  Sunitha Krishnan has dedicated her life to rescuing women and children from sex slavery, a multimillion-dollar global market. In this courageous talk, she tells three powerful stories, as well as her own, and calls for a more humane approach to helping these young victims rebuild their lives. "The sense that thousands and millions of children and young people are being sexually violated and that there’s this huge silence about it around me angers me." Sunitha Krishnan

Stories about the Fight Against Stoning Women

The Stoning of Soraya M.  "A 2008 American drama film adapted from French-Iranian journalist Freidoune Sahebjam's 1990 book La Femme Lapidée, based on a true story. Stranded in a remote Iranian village, Sahebjam is approached by Zahra, a woman with a harrowing tale to tell about her niece, Soraya, and the bloody circumstances of her death the day before. Her story attempts to expose the inhumanity of Sharia Law. Her last and only hope for justice lies in the hands of the journalist, who must escape with the story - and his life - in order to communicate the violence to the world."

"Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani is an Iranian Azeri woman who has been convicted of murder and adultery. She has been on death row in Iran since 2006. Her controversial case became internationally known in 2010 after high-profile reports that she was convicted of the crime of adultery and sentenced to execution by stoning death by stoning commuted to hanging (August 12, 2010).  Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, the Iranian woman whose sentence to death by stoning sparked an international outcry was put on state-run TV where she told how her cousin had approached her about killing her husband, which in Iran was taken as a confession of adultery and involvement in murder. Her lawyer says she was tortured before the interview."

"On Saturday, September 18, 2010, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared in an interview on American television network ABC that the Iranian woman, "Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani had never been condemned to death by stoning". And he added, "This is misinformation that has been created and, unfortunately, the American media have been influenced by their politicians to fabricate this news." A reliable source in Iran, who wishes to remain anonymous due to fear of reprisals, has given us a series of five documents that are part of the prosecution's file of charges of adultery against Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, stamped by the Iranian authorities, which contradict Ahmadinejad's assertions."