Discrimination wears many faces, often supported by religion, custom and tradition. In modern India, where age-old traditions collide with twentieth-century values, it is women who bear the heaviest burden. ‘No Longer Silent’ takes a revealing look at aspects of this discrimination, and at the determination of some Indian women to bring about change.

Prejudice against women in India is exemplified by customs like the century-old dowry system. Increasingly, it is used as a means of obtaining excessive payment and goods, but with this has come the physical and mental harassment of brides and their families, and a growing number of dowry-related murders, most commonly by “bride burning”. In the city of Delhi alone, several hundred dowry murders occur each year.

‘No Longer Silent’ explores one tragic case as a mother fights for a just investigation into her daughter's death. What she confronts is a legal system that seems both indifferent and ineffective.

The film looks at the growing trend in India to identify the gender of unborn babies using amniocentesis – a procedure designed primarily to detect birth defects during early stages of pregnancy. Female fetuses thus identified are almost always aborted.

Although the injustices against them are deeply rooted, the women in ‘No Longer Silent’ remain steadfast; determined to change the attitudes and amend the laws of their country. The film is a tribute to these women and to other women of India who will no longer be accomplices in their own oppression.

Description source: Circles catalogue (1987). Edited by Jenny Holland and Jane Harris.