A Conversation Between Two Fathers of Remarkable Daughters

On Sunday June, 15th 2025, on Father’s Day, global gender justice campaign, #StandWithHer, will launch a new 20-minute film documenting a rare conversation between Ziauddin Yousafzai, father of Malala who at 15-years-old was shot by the Taliban for campaigning for girls’ education in Pakistan, and Ranjit, father of Kiran (pseudonym) from the Oscar-nominated film, To Kill a Tiger, which chronicles Ranjit’s pursuit of justice after his daughter is sexually assaulted in India. These two fathers of remarkable daughters met in New York in March 2025 to share their stories. The result is a frank and deeply moving conversation that offers an illuminating insight into the crucial role and power of male allyship. Both dads are part of #StandWithHer, a campaign advocating for gender equality around the world and that sees the role of men and boys as critical to UN that pursuit. The 20-minute short is divided into five light chapters, some extracts below: CHAPTER ONE: IT’S A GIRL Ziauddin: It is a strange coincidence that your daughter was born in the morning. Malala was also born in the morning…She was so clean, so beautiful, her eyes were shining like stars. Believe me, I cannot forget that moment. I also call my daughter Jaani. The meaning of Jaani is soulmate, meaning one soul dwelling in two bodies. Our journey starts from there, that of father and daughter. CHAPTER TWO: KIRAN: “I WOULD RATHER DIE THAN GIVE IN” Ziauddin: Your daughter Kiran says that ‘I would rather die than give in’. She says ‘I would rather die than accept defeat. I will not bend to the will of a society that is so cruel.” And you decide to celebrate the courage and bravery of your daughter. This moment, it’s so powerful! It’s like you set an example that in society, if something like this happens, it’s society that should be ashamed…and a girl who’s fighting for justice, we should be proud of her. And you are a father who honours your daughter’s bravery. Ranjit: They wanted me to marry my 13-year-old daughter to one of them. She had already been raped by them. She has already suffered once… if we force her into the bond of marriage, then it’s a big crime. There could be nothing worse. CHAPTER THREE: CROSSING THE RIVER ALONE Ziauddin: When everyone in your community is on one side. They think in a certain way, a way that is against girls and their dignity and not in favour of justice. It gets quite difficult, doesn’t it?... Have you thought to yourself “Why am I doing all this? Ranjit: We didn't have anyone to support us..and I realised on this journey, I have to walk alone and have to realise this alone. No matter how difficult the journey is… My wife and daughter, both were also so strong and said, ‘whatever we have to do, we have to work together and move forward, no matter how difficult it gets.’ Even my younger daughter also said, ‘Papa, absolutely, don’t turn back.’ CHAPTER FOUR: MALALA: “I CHOSE TO SPEAK” Ziauddin: When Malala was attacked and when I got the news, I had forgotten how a person cries, I could not cry…. Malala was not just my daughter; she was my comrade. She was a close friend …So, when she miraculously survived, Malala made the decision, one which she had already made five years before, that I have to speak out. Ranjit: If we have to die, we will die. But we will speak out first. CHAPTER FIVE: STAND WITH HER Ziauddin: You are very brave that you shared your story for the wellbeing of humanity and now this movement around it, the campaign #StandWithHer” that every father, every brother, all men must stand with women. This is huge work for equality, for humanity, for human rights. Ranjit: As more and more men join together, I feel it will definitely have an impact on men and boys. If they understand that this injustice, like in the film, was wrong, and to correct that wrong these people are taking action. Ziauddin: I come back to what your daughter says in the film. ‘When people walk together, no one can stop them.’ We walked together, and this institution of the family…it is an agent of change, an informal one, but there’s no force more powerful than the family.. Inspired by director Nisha Pahuja’s 2024 Oscar®nominated documentary To Kill a Tiger, the #StandWithHer campaign is dedicated to empowering survivors of sexual assault and strengthening male allyship, understanding that working with men and boys is a critical, yet often missing component in the movement for gender equality, and realizing a world free from gender-based violence. The #StandWithHer campaign is supported by NGO partners Equality Now, Equimundo: Center for Masculinities and Social Justice, and MenEngage Alliance. Key funding for the campaign is provided by the Ramesh and Kalpana Bhatia Family Foundation and Equimundo’s “The Caring Masculinity Fund,” created as part of Melinda French Gates’ trust in Equimundo’s CEO Gary Barker.