http://frontpagemag.com/2012/jamie-glazov/its-a-girl-%e2%80%93-the-three-deadliest-words-in-the-world/print/
It’s a Girl – The Three Deadliest Words in the World
Frontpage Interview’s guest today is Evan Grae Davis, the founder of Shadowline Films. From the Aral Sea disaster in Eastern Europe to poverty in Africa to social transformation among tribal groups of South America, Evan has traveled the globe with camera in hand for 16 years. He has dedicated his career to advocating for social justice through writing and directing short documentaries and educational videos championing the cause of the poor and exploited. He draws from his experience and passion as he lends leadership to Shadowline Films, a team of filmmakers who share a common concern for the critical issues of our time. It’s a Girl is his first feature-length documentary.
FP: Evan Grae Davis, welcome to Frontpage Interview.
Tell us about your new film, It’s a Girl.
Davis: Thanks Jamie.
In India, China and many other parts of the world today, girls are killed, aborted and abandoned simply because they are girls. The United Nations estimates as many as 200 million girls are missing in the world today because of this so-called “gendercide.” Girls who survive infancy are often subject to neglect, and many grow up to face extreme violence and even death at the hands of their own husbands or other family members.
Shot on location in India and China, It’s a Girl reveals the issue. It asks why this is happening, and why so little is being done to save girls and women. The film tells the stories of abandoned and trafficked girls, of women who suffer extreme dowry-related violence, of brave mothers fighting to save their daughters’ lives, and of other mothers who would kill for a son. Global experts and grassroots activists put the stories in context and advocate different paths towards change, while collectively lamenting the lack of any truly effective action against this injustice.
FP: Why is there a war against girls?
Davis: The war against girls is rooted in centuries-old tradition and sustained by deeply ingrained cultural mores that say women are less valuable than men. In nations like India and China, only sons can inherit wealth, carry on the family name, and perform last rites for their parents upon their death. Sons also care for their parents in old age. Daughters, once married, join their husband’s family and are no longer considered a member of their parents’ family. In addition, in India, the family of girls must pay an expensive dowry of property and money to the husband’s family upon marriage. These practices, in combination with government policies in China which restrict families to one or two children, accelerate the elimination of girls. Girls are often aborted, killed immediately after birth, or abandoned. Those women who do live past childhood, are often subjected to abuse and neglect.