The film begins with a broad analysis of women’s rights in Muslim-majority countries, drawing attention to issues such as lack of access to education and restrictions on movement.
In the final chapter, the documentary explores the rising trend of honor-based violence in Western societies, and efforts to silence voices of opposition by intimidation.
Film production began in April 2012, prompted by producer Paula Kweskin’s participation in the Association for Women's Rights in Development conference in Turkey.
The film’s producers based the concept of the meeting on the salons of the French Enlightenment, in which women hosted assemblies of intellectuals to discuss progressive issues of the day.
They speak eloquently, with reasoned passion, about their personal experiences and of threats against them, and talk of their efforts to change the situation of women in their country of origin and in the wider world.Honor Diaries won the Interfaith Award at the St. Louis International Film Festival in 2013.