After a recent screening of our film ‘The Mouse: Voicing CSA’ at a US festival, we were approached by iCube (of Peace.University, USA), who have just hosted Pakistan’s first Women Health and Hygiene Conference.

The conference, which took place on 14th May 2018, aimed to shake and break the taboos around women health and raise awareness about gender equality, domestic violence, and abuse. Child abuse has been a serious issue in Pakistan and needs to be talked about more. They felt that by screening ‘The Mouse’, it would give food for thought and create a good talking point amongst the audience. Naturally, we were pleased that we could be involved in such a worthwhile conference, even in such a small way.

About the Conference

Gender equality and the realization of maternal, and reproductive health and rights are human rights and are absolutely fundamental for a peaceful, prosperous, and sustainable world. Pakistan has largely been a society closed to health issues specific to women. Talking about feminine hygiene is a major taboo even in moderate and educated circles and hence there hasn’t been much progress, let alone invention or innovation.

Through keynotes, social enterprise awards, workshops, film screenings, the event brought leaders, influencers, innovators, and change-makers together for a series of sessions on about dialogue and idea-sharing, about invention, innovation and investigation, and about ‘striving for a world where women have a choice, not a chance.’

Some of the subjects discussed included: Menstrual Hygiene and Associated Taboos, Women’s Mental Health, Revolutionizing Finances for Women, Women Leaders: Up Close and Personal, Mother and Child Primary Care, and Female Reproductive Health and Human Rights.

For more information, please visit the website, or follow the Twitter hashtag #HackThePad