Educational Media Reviews Online

In October, 2012, Malala Yousafzai was shot by the Taliban for daring to attend school and blog about it. Her shooting personalized for western nations the problems Pakistani girls have if they want an education. Malala’s face and story were on the news for weeks after the attack.

The Pakistani women featured in Saving Face have not made the news; they prefer to stay covered and not show their faces—they have been victims of acid attacks.

Like the majority of domestic violence survivors, most of these women were attacked by their husbands. One young girl was attacked by her teacher, after she refused his advances. The documentary closely follows two victims of acid attacks: Zakia, who asked her husband for a divorce, but he didn’t want to grant one; and Rukhsana, who was attacked first by her husband, then set on fire by her in-laws.

The film shows clips from an Islamabad safe house, a group counseling session, a lawyer with one of the victims, a member of parliament on a mission to change the laws, and a free burn clinic started specifically for victims of acid attacks. Dr. Mohammad Jawal, a Pakistani native, donates his time to the clinic. He travels from London to help these women. He hears “too many stories like these” to stand idly by and do nothing. These women already suffering abuse have taken a stand to leave an abusive relationship. Pakistan is just now acknowledging that they need help.

Marvi Memon, a member of parliament, proposed new legislation to specifically punish the perpetrators of the crimes. Until recently, they had been able to walk free because of a culture where women are worth less than their husbands. Sarkar Abbas, a lawyer, brings Zakia’s husband (Pervez) to court. Pervez is the defendant in the first case tried under the new legislation. The results of his trial prove that the tide is changing for women in Pakistan, albeit slowly.

Saving Face covers a lot of ground in a brief period of time. It barely scratches the surface of the issue of abuse, but it is a good introduction to the domestic horrors happening in Pakistan as well as the hard work that has been done so far to help these women. The film also shows that a lot still needs to be done to change Pakistan’s culture of oppression.

This film supplements current literature about Muslim countries and should open discussions about treatment of women in those countries. Classes on Middle Eastern culture, women’s studies, poverty, international law, or social work would benefit from viewing this video. Much of Pakistan and its culture are mysterious to Americans and Saving Face shows just a tiny bit of the country. Like Malala Yousafzai, Zakia and Rukhsana have put a face to the acid attacks reported by more than one hundred women a year in Pakistan.