Raising awareness about the lack of opportunity for girls around the world, a screening of the documentary Girl Rising was hosted by Westwood Girl Up Club last Friday, Oct. 21.

Directed by Academy-Award nominee Richard E. Robbins and narrated by prominent actresses such as Meryl Streep and Priyanka Chopra, Girl Rising features the true stories of nine girls. All live in parts of the world where their opportunity and education is limited, and yet they overcome obstacles to fight for their dreams. The film highlights the importance of educating girls and the positive outcomes it would bring for the entire globe.

Girl Up president Mayurika Gupta ‘18 first saw the documentary in seventh grade, and was incredibly inspired.

“That night I realized how much of a problem this was, and how it wasn’t getting exposure,” Gupta said. “When the opportunity came to show it, I thought, ‘Let’s do it right now!’”

Club secretary Kavya Choudhary ‘18 said the club hoped to attract new members while raising awareness.

“We wanted to give the club more exposure,” Choudhary said. “We also wanted to raise awareness and show that our club is working for these girls in the documentary.”

Complete with popcorn and snacks, the screening was open to anyone who was interested. Viewers walked away with new knowledge and a sense of purpose.

“I definitely felt a pressure because I never knew about kamlari, for example,” Yash Purohit ‘18 said. “I knew about a servant structure but not that parents would sell their children as slaves. I feel a pressure for action.”

Kamlari is a traditional system of bonded labor in Nepal that continues even though it is now outlawed. It was one of the many oppressive systems shown in the documentary. Even as a boy, Purohit felt passionate about girls’ education.

“I feel like sending girls to get educated is the most obvious thing parents can do for their children,” he said.

Gupta hoped that attendees would walk away inspired and grateful.

“It’s so important to be grateful for what you have,” she said. “Don’t give up for what you believe in, and get past your obstacles.”

She wanted to give the opportunity to experience different perspectives to the attendees.

“We don’t have a firsthand experience, so to hear from their gives an opportunity to understand them,” she said.

Looking forward, viewers believed they could create positive change. There are multiple ways to encourage greater opportunities for women, they said.

“One is to raise awareness,” Purohit said. “Even in the United States there are inequalities between women and men, such as the wage gap, and we can start at home.”

Westwood Girl Up club is a direct pathway to encourage discussion and to get involved.

“We can do something through Girl Up locally,” Choudhary said. “We can help Girl Up help other girls.”

Currently, there are 62 million girls who are being denied an education. Visit girlrising.com or girlup.org for more information on how you can contribute to ensuring this will change.