Ethiopian film DIFRET-Fighting the Tribal Practice of Abducting Girls for Marriage

The Ethiopian film DIFRET depicts the tribal custom of kidnapping young girls and forcing them into marriage.  The story is based on Aberash Bekele's life was abducted by a group of men on horseback, beaten, raped and held prisoner to be forced to wed her rapist.  Aberash's was 14 at the time.  She seized a rifle and attempted to flee her captors.  They surrounded her and when they refused to retreat she fired & killed her tormentor in self-defense.  Aberash is represented in this English speaking film by a girl with the name Hirut.  Hirut's female defense atty was Meaza Ashenafi who founded the women's defense practice that took on this precedential case in 1998.  The courts found the defendant acted in self-defense and was freed.  The tribal council in the village demanded payment to the dead man's family & banished Aberash.  She was released but fled from her village for her own safety and that of her family.  This abominable practice & oppressive misogynistic culture was prevalent in the last decade of the 20th C in Ehtiopia and is being disbanded through the courts.  The clash between village customs & the court systems established in the urban centers proved courageous on the part of Ashenafi, Aberash and others.  Actress Angelina Jolie and artist Julie Mehretu executive producers on this powerful film that brings awareness to the ongoing sexual violence against women & children. It should be noted, Jolie was accused of by Aberash of exploiting her murder trial by releasing her story without her consent, without compensation originally & for putting her family at risk.