WUNRN
Women Make Movies - WMM
INDIA - INVOKING JUSTICE -
DOCUMENTARY FILM
INDIA - WOMEN'S JAMAAT BREAKS
THROUGH MALE DOMINATION ON FAMILY CASES WITH ISLAMIC LAW
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A film by Deepa Dhanraj
India,
2011, Tamil, Subtitled
Film Segment: http://www.wmm.com/advscripts/wmmvideo.aspx?pid=192
In
Southern India, family disputes are settled by Jamaats—all male bodies which
apply Islamic Sharia law to cases without allowing women to be present, even to
defend themselves. Recognizing this fundamental inequity, a group of women in
2004 established a women’s Jamaat, which soon became a network of 12,000
members spread over 12 districts.
Despite
enormous resistance, they have been able to settle more than 8,000 cases to
date, ranging from divorce to wife beating to brutal murders and more.
Award-winning filmmaker Deepa Dhanraj (SOMETHING LIKE A WAR) follows several
cases, shining a light on how the women’s Jamaat has acquired power through both
communal education and the leaders’ persistent, tenacious and compassionate
investigation of the crimes. In astonishing scenes we watch the Jamaat
meetings, where women often shout over each other about the most difficult
facets of their personal lives.
Above
all, the women’s Jamaat exists to hold their male counterparts and local police
to account, and to reform a profoundly corrupt system which allows men to take
refuge in the most extreme interpretation of the Qur’an to justify violence
towards women.