Pakistan Rape Victim Leads Huge Protest
As reported on BBC and elsewhere, a woman involved in a high-profile rape case has led a protest march in the Pakistani city of Multan against the acquittal last week of five of the accused in the case. Mukhtar Mai was raped on the orders of a village council to punish an offence blamed on her brother. A joint statement issued by several leading non-government organisations said the reason for the increasing violence against women in Pakistan was the fact that men guilty of assaulting them were rarely punished.

In fact, hundreds of women are killed in the region each year, to restore the so-called "honor" of families of women who may have left abusive situations. The film AGAINST MY WILL portrays the Dastak women's shelter in Lahore, where women accused of tarnishing the family honor find a safe haven. Here, in this tidy building with a well-kept lawn, they live in safety, receiving both counseling and legal advice.