Love, Honour & Disobey

The Southall Black Sisters (SBS) of London, England receive over 2,000 calls (and handle over 400 cases) of domestic violence abuse annually. As Saeeda Khanum's documentary Love, Honour & Disobey informs viewers, hundreds of women trapped in abusive relationships also have insecure immigration status: many don't know their rights or can't claim benefits (including seeking refuge), and the threat of deportation keeps many silent. This film profiles the SBS through footage of their cases with three clients, together with interviews with SBS workers and the police, and excerpts from television and radio programs. The three specific cases illustrate how cultural traditions can promote patriarchal power patterns that play a role in the abuse: in one case a woman sustained great bodily harm from her husband whose position as a priest caused the police to turn a blind eye, while another case involves the death of a 17-year-old woman whose father violently murdered her in a so-called “honor killing” because he disagreed with her “Western ways.” Although domestic violence is an international human rights issue that deserves more attention—and the cases here, primarily dealing with black and ethnic women of other cultures, offer an important perspective frequently overlooked in films about domestic abuse—this particular documentary's focus on British policy/law and the specific functions of the SBS make this a questionable purchase for general collections. Recommended for women's rights collections; others would be better off with more general films on domestic abuse, such as the recent Mending Spirits (VL-9/06). Aud: C, P. (A. Cantú)