‘If You Can’t See Us, How Will You See Our Issues?’ Asks Short Film Shakti – Half Is Ours

With their new short film, titled ‘Shakti- Half Is Ours,’ Political Shakti is striving to get 50% women representation in political spaces.

India ranks 20th from the bottom in terms of representation of women in Parliament. There has always been a certain conception that women are unfit for politics as they are more “emotional” and “sentimental.” But how will a leader solve your problems if he/she is not empathetic towards your sufferings?

How will women’s problems be put to the desk if not a single woman represents them? All the laws surrounding rape, assault, abuse, violence, education are formulated by men despite the fact that the victim is majorly a woman. Is this justified? Bills, acts, laws and trial by people who are miles away from acknowledging our pains and sufferings?

On Gandhi Jayanti, Political Shakti, a group of non-partisan women striving for women’s representation in politics, launched a short film. The film focuses on women’s problems which usually go unnoticed by the government. This soul-stirring and well-crafted film talks about the ground problems that women face and how there is nobody to represent them up in the hierarchy.

What is Shakti: Half Is Ours about?

All our life we’ve always heard statements like ‘First woman president,’ ‘First woman prime minister.’ Whereas, such statements are never heard in case of men. These expressions fairly reveal the scarce representation of women in politics.

Down the strata in the most remote places of India, ill practices against women are still a fact. Whether its metropolitan cities or remote villages, women safety and equality are still a distant dream. But how can the voice of a common woman be heard up in the parliament?

This video by Political Shakti raises the question “if you can’t see us, how will you see our issues?” It raises genuine problems which women face, like child marriage, property rights and sanitation.

A common woman can only be heard if another woman represents her. From minor to major, her problems can only be seen if another woman strives for it.

The eye-opening message

Political Shakti’s video reveals that “for every 10 men there is less than 1 woman in our Vidhan Sabhas.” Government bodies shouldn’t be male dominated structures, it should rather be all inclusive. There should be people to represent each section of the society for fair representation of all.

Political Shakti uses the hashtag #AdhaHumAdhaHumara and is striving towards 50 percent seats for women. This all inclusive and fair nature of government bodies will result in a stronger democracy and a happier India. We all must strive together to achieve this milestone.

Picture credits: YouTube

Anamika Mohanta

Anamika is an English literature student with a strong inclination towards feminist literature, feminist literary

Learn More