We’re thrilled to announce that It’s a Girl is available now on DVD and iTunes!

The release date intentionally coincides with the anniversary of China’s brutal One Child Policy on September 25. This population control policy is often enforced through coercive measures, including forced abortion and forced sterilization. In combination with son preference, the policy has led to the elimination of millions of girls.

By making It’s a Girl available on the anniversary of China’s brutal policy, we hope to further fuel a movement to see the policy and its impact on gendercide come to an end.

Throughout this month we are releasing several exclusive clips from the DVD special features as we lead up to the release date!

Watch this exclusive look behind the scenes of the music for It’s a Girl:

Human rights issues as widespread as gendercide demand a worldwide response. To truly mobilize a global movement to see gendercide come to an end, people must be able to learn about the issue in their own language.

Before launching our screening campaign in 2012, we prioritized the translation of It’s a Girl into several major languages including Spanish, French, Chinese and Hindi.

Since our initial launch, several groups have contacted us with a passion for expanding the reach of It’s a Girl into their own language group and have volunteered their time to translate the film into their heart language. As a result of their commitment to raising awareness about gendercide, we are thrilled to announce the availability of It’s a Girl in both Italian and Romanian. Both the Italian and Romanian premieres will be happening later this year.

Rosanna Del Buono, an American subtitler in Rome and screening host for the upcoming Italian Premiere, shared a bit more with us about what motivated her and a community of like-minded individuals to bring It’s a Girl to Italy:

“I happened to come across a trailer for “It’s a Girl” and was immediately struck by the atrocity of the phenomenon of gendercide. I never realize how drastic and appalling the situation was.

I decided right then and there I wanted to find a way to bring the documentary to Rome, Italy. I first attempted to find a venue in the fall of 2012… unfortunately, in vain. I put the project aside for a while and in the spring of 2013 I set out to make it happen. I emailed various venues again and got a reply from Domenico Monetti and Laura Argento of CSC-Cineteca Nazionale/Cinema Trevi. They were very interested in hosting the screening. We met in person and sealed the deal: I would pay for the license and they would offer their space. Initially I had planned to show the documentary only in English but realized it would get better exposure in Rome if we had an Italian subtitled version. Since I myself work as a subtitler in Rome, I was lucky to have a vast network of Italian friends and co-workers I could reach out to. I was overwhelmed by the willingness and availability of my fellow translators: Grazia Esposito, Cecilia Gonnelli, Cristina Liso, Marta Monterisi, Carlotta Scarlata, Angela Tripaldi- who volunteered their time and energy to translating the documentary into Italian. Victor Castillo and Laser S. Film Srl offered their technical support. While Tina Cancemi, Orsola Clausi, Kissy Dugan, Roberta Pesci offered to pitch in and help me pay for the license fee.

Thanks to all of these friends, the documentary will reach a larger number of people and hopefully encourage others to step up and take a stand against gendercide!”

The Italian Premiere of It’s a Girl will be a public event held on September 20th, 2013 in Rome, Italy.

Thanks to the efforts of these volunteer translators in both Italy and Romania, It’s a Girl is now available with Italian or Romanian subtitles for screening events, and later this fall will be available on DVD and iTunes.

If we do not yet offer the film in your language, please consider bringing It’s a Girl and the message about gendercide to your language group by volunteering your time to translate the film. For any completed translations, you can receive a discounted screening license, and have the potential to raise awareness among thousands more people in your nation about gendercide.

To learn more about how you can bring It’s a Girl to your country and language, please contact us at subtitles@itsagirlmovie.com.

Women Deliver is a global advocacy organization bringing together voices from around the world to call for action to improve the health and well-being of girls and women. The third global conference was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from May 28-30, 2013. This year, Women Deliver’s Cinema Corner dedicated three days to film screenings that would run parallel to the various presentations. It’s a Girl was selected to screen on the first day, and the music video for It’s a Girl featuring original music by Omekongo Dibinga screened on the third day.

If you haven’t yet seen the official It’s a Girl music video, you can watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHE_3vRkpwk

We are honored for both the documentary and music video to be selected for Women Deliver Cinema Corner. However, we are also appalled that Women Deliver invited Indian politician J. S. Kurien, a man implicated in one of India’s highest profile gang-rape/sex trafficking cases of a teenage girl, to speak at their 2013 conference.

A 16-year-old school girl in the town of Suryanelli was kidnapped, held hostage for 40 days, during which she was raped by the 42 men she had been ‘sold’ to. When she was finally found, she was so battered and had lost so much blood the doctors said she wouldn’t make it. Kurien was one of the accused in this case. He was identified by face by the victim but never arrested. To read the full story click here.

Women Deliver faced loads of criticism on the web and an official Causes petition by the 50 Million Missing Campaign was created demanding an apology to the victim.

Women Deliver’s official statement:
“We were unaware that Indian Parliamentarian PJ Kurien is facing allegations of rape. While we cannot comment on the specific allegations, had we known of the controversy, we would not have permitted PJ Kurian to speak at the side event. Addressing violence against women is central to our mission as an organization and one of the focus areas of this global conference.”

Our hope is that the several thousand participants in Women Deliver conferences truly advocate women’s rights around the world and that they recognize female gendercide as one of the most pressing women’s rights issue today.

In the wake of the Capitol screening of It’s A Girl Tuesday evening, Wednesday, Congressman Chris Smith joined with Reggie Littlejohn, president of Women’s Rights Without Frontiers, and other members of the Coalition Against Gendercide at the Capitol to highlight the more than two hundred thousand petitions signed by people around the world, through the Causes platform, demanding that China end forced abortion and sterilization under the One Child Policy, and take action against gendercide.

Smith, Littlejohn and the Director of It’s a Girl – Evan Grae Davis – then attempted to deliver the petitions to the Chinese Embassy in Washington, but the embassy staff refused to open the doors to accept them.

“The press were staging cameras in front of the embassy before we arrived, so clearly the Embassy staff had plenty of notice that something was coming their way,” said Davis of the attempted delivery. “Congressmen Smith and Reggie Littlejohn were neither permitted entry nor did anyone answer the pages through the intercom system at the door, though we could see movement behind the glass windows. All attempts were met with silence. At one point, an individual who appeared to work for the embassy  approached the doors and also tried to get into the embassy, but they quickly ran off once it was clear the doors would not be opened as long as we were present. It’s clear to me the embassy had heard we would be delivering the petitions and rather than hear the voices of hundreds of thousands of people around the world, they chose to lock their doors and prevent even a member of the U.S. Congress from being heard.”

We are committed to delivering the petitions and making your voices heard, so please continue to sign this petition so when the time comes, even more signatures will be delivered. We will not allow China to shut its door on the millions of women and girls impacted by gendercide and forced abortion!

Sign the petition here

Mitu Khurana is a doctor in Delhi who fought to save her twin daughters from being selectively aborted, despite torture and violence at the hands of her husband and in-laws. Her story is told in It’s a Girl,and has inspired audiences around the world! Since becoming one of the first women in India to take legal action against her in-laws and the doctor and hospital who conducted the illegal sex-determination test, Mitu has become a champion for girls in India.

But her story is not over. Her battle for justice in the courts has been met by threats of rape and murder against her and of kidnapping against her daughters. We asked Mitu to write this post updating us on where her case stands in the courts and how her ongoing struggle for justice is going.

We are safe and away from violence. Otherwise in the courts, it’s a long perhaps never ending battle. The accused are rich and powerful. They have the powers to influence the authorities. I am very very far away from attaining my goal.

Any change, if it happens, can be through the youth, if they are sensitized by people who themselves are sensitive to such problems. Until then, perhaps only international pressure and intervention by UN to stop the gendercide can save us.

The desire for a son is prevalent all over India. Some have the means to go for sex-selective abortion; others resort to abandoning, neglecting or killing their daughters. Programs like “Satyamev Jayate” (a popular series on social issues) and the movie, “It’s a girl” can help a lot to spread awareness. Neighborhood watch groups, training groups, NGOs which train people to become watch dogs can also help.

There are weak moments, when I feel it’s a losing battle, because the accused are powerful and the system doesn’t want women like me, who walk out and save their daughters. On the other hand it always favours people who are rich and powerful. It was the struggle against my husband which turned into a struggle against the whole system.

This woke me up. Things need to change at every level. It’s no longer a personal fight, because now I am fighting the system, which does not want daughters, which does not respect women, which does not think of providing justice because of patriarchal attitude, and corruption.

Added to it was the company of good friends which taught me the problem is widespread. I was just one of the many women who were suffering. I could come out because my parents supported me, otherwise I would have continued to be a victim. Parents usually do not support daughters to move away from their husbands, despite of having been in grave danger.

The case for sex determination filed by me against the hospital, my husband and in-laws, and the doctor- cognizance has been taken in the lower court. The hospital and the doctor have appealed in higher courts against the cognizance. It is pending there since 2010.

The case filed by government against the hospital where sex determination was done- cognizance has been taken by lower court. The hospital in appeal to the higher court and the case is pending in the high court.

I also have a number of other outstanding cases awaiting justice, including domestic violence, dowry, case against my husband and in-laws for hacking my email, custody case- filed by my husband, case for divorce- filed by my husband. A detailed description of the cases can be found here.

The least I can do is to keep fighting and encourage other women to come out, so that I stop standing out as the odd one out. I want it to become a movement, let mothers say no to female foeticide. How long will the system further victimize us?

You can demand justice for Mitu and other women like her by signing the petition demanding world leaders act to hold the Indian government accountable to enforce laws prohibiting sex selection and providing protection and value to India’s girls. Sign and share the petition here.