Filmmakers and Activists Talk #StandWithHer Movement at IOP Forum

Nisha Pahuja, a Canadian filmmaker, discussed the role of community partnerships and advocacy in advancing the rights of girls and young women globally at a Harvard Institute of Politics forum on Tuesday, held in recognition of International Women’s Day.

The panel, which featured Ziauddin Yousafzai, the father of Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai, reflected on the #StandWithHer movement — a global campaign inspired by Pahuja’s Oscar-nominated film To Kill a Tiger — which highlights women’s security and the role of men in gender equality.

During the event, the trailer of To Kill a Tiger was played. The documentary follows Ranjit, a father in India, as he fights for justice after his daughter survives sexual assault.

Pahuja said the #StandWithHer movement that launched last month, roughly two years after the documentary’s initial release, remains relevant due to the “universality” of the film’s events.

“The reason I think it has resonated with people around the world is because every single woman I know can relate to that story,” she said in an interview after the event. “Every single woman has felt that fear, has felt that insecurity.”

Pahuja added that revisiting its message in the days following International Women’s Day serves as a “reminder of all the work that still has to be done.”

Pahuja said that the documentary was made with the goal of bringing men and boys into the conversation and was inspired after investigating a gender sensitization program for men in India.

Yousafzai stressed the need for boys and men to be a part of the solution and continued fight for gender equality.

“We all need to be very vigilant and very active to come together,” he added. “It’s beneficial for men and boys themselves, so they should be in this journey.”

Yousafzai, who supported his daughter Malala’s advocacy for girls’ education and gender equality, said the first step in advocacy begins with the “small wars” one has with themselves.

“The first change is in the individuals,” he said.

“When I started fighting against patriarchy, before fighting against the Taliban, the first person I came across was myself — the old Ziauddin, who was grown up in patriarchy, very much in conformity with the social norms and values,” Yousafzai added.

The panel also featured Amita N. Vyas, a professor of public health at George Washington University, who extended her work into film production after her past global initiatives were unable to “address the underlying causes” in women’s health – gender inequities, she said.

“I had constantly been frustrated that so many of our interventions on the ground, they had some impact, but generally that impact was short term impact,” Vyas said.

Vyas has since produced the film Girl Rising, which recounts the story of nine girls from around the world who face barriers to their education.

“That amplification of stories, that's where you’re going to have the real impact,” she said.

Atul A. Gawande, a professor at Harvard Medical School and the discussion’s moderator, emphasized the importance of the panelists’ work within the current American political climate.

“The Americans who are going to make a difference, I do think it’s the ones who will reach out and connect and join these communities and be part of bridging the divides,” he said.

“It feels really impossible right now, because it’s easy to foment the divides when we’re far apart, but there is no monopoly on empathy in either party,” he added.