In some parts of the world, the words “it’s a girl” aren’t always greeted with joy on the part of the parents of a newborn infant.

In India, China and many other parts of the world today, girls are killed, aborted, or 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.

The war against girls is sustained by deeply ingrained cultural dynamics which, in combination with government policies, accelerate the elimination of girls.

“As ‘outsiders’ of these tragedies, we often feel helpless in terms of what we can do in order to exact change and justice,” says Sharanjit Shandra, coordinator of the Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies (CICS) at UFV. “By showing the film It’s A Girl at our UFV Abbotsford campus, we have a chance to make a difference.”

On Mon, Nov 19, at 6 pm in the UFV Abbotsford campus lecture theatre (B101), the UFV Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies will be presenting a documentary called It’s a Girl. This powerful documentary sheds light on issues of female gendercide in South Asia and East Asia-although female infanticide does occur in other cultures outside of these two as well.

The CICS is working alongside GirlKind Foundation (www.girlkind.org) to bring this screening to UFV. Tickets are $10 and proceeds of the ticket sales are going towards the foundation. There will also be items on sale (cash only) at the Nov 19 film screening, the proceeds of which will be going to various foundations working to save girls around the world.

“Please take the time to come out to watch this documentary. It is important that we all take a stand through whatever means we have,” said Sandhra.

For any other information, questions, or to purchase tickets, please contact Sharn at 604-851-6325 or sharanjit.sandhra@ufv.ca.

 

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