Clarion Project: the group behind “The Honor Diaries”
Women, especially Muslim women, don’t need such people to defend them. There are much better people out there who genuinely stand up for women’s rights.
Conservative media outlets and anti-Muslim activists have voiced indignation over recent protests of the film “Honor Diaries” across the United States. The film features nine women who speak about their experiences with various commonly justified as religious “honor” practices, including forced marriage, child marriages, denial of education, violence against women and female genital mutilation.
While these are issues that deserve public attention, the group behind the film has a strong anti-Muslim track record that has been thoroughly documented. The film’s backers and participants claim they are bringing light to this very important discussion, but it’s hard to believe the very serious problem of violence against women — particularly Muslim women — can be solved through films backed by anti-Muslim activists.
The film caught the attention of many activists who addressed some of the problems surrounding the film.
“We don’t need Islamophobes to talk to us and tell us stories of oppressed and abused Muslim women,” Linda Sarsour of the National Network for Arab American Communities told Al Jazeera. “It’s just disingenuous.”