Striped shirt buttoned up to the collar, frizzy hair tied into two asymmetrical pigtails with red ribbons, a black backpack on her shoulder. The teenager was happy, until an unknown hand takes her bag away, unbuttons her shirt and wipes the smile off her face. Later, she ends up in a busy brothel in an unknown street, her once-happy self existing only in her past.
The two-minute-long video by TVF Girliyapa is not just hard-hitting but shows us a mirror held towards the society, where thousands of minor girls are trafficked every year. Created in collaboration with the NGO International Justice Mission, the video is part of the channel's latest property 'Girliyapa Spotlight'. Under this banner, they've also created videos on issues like skin colour shaming and marital rape.
"The idea here is to put the spotlight on issues that we're all aware of. We're adding a humanistic approach to those. It's just a reality check," says Sarjita Jain, Channel Head, Girliyapa. "While we're essentially into content and comedy, we realised that we have a responsibility towards our audiences. We need to bring forth issues like marital rape, skin colour discrimination and workplace sexism. Once in a while, we do something that helps us sleep better at night. This video was one such project," she says.
The video, which was released on July 29 on Girliyapa's social media handles was well received by the audience, much to Sarjita's surprise. "The reaction was overwhelming. The attention span of the people these days is very low and so, when we put it up, we didn't expect them to actually engage with it. Many people genuinely wanted to help and play a part in bringing a change. That was very encouraging for us," she says.
Under the spotlight, the team is now working on a video on daughters' day and another one on the stigma around divorce.
