Emma Watson Debuts Short Film ‘Hurdles’ to Highlight Gender Inequality Progress

Politics

 | September 27, 2016 | By Sara Wilkins

Emma Watson released a powerful short film about gender inequality on her social media account.

Set to Sia’s hit “Chandelier,” the video shows the milestones passed for equal rights for women, including the first Equal Pay Act in the U.S. in 1963, and the statistic that 97 countries have more women than men enrolled in universities.

However, it also highlights the problems women face across the world, including the plight of 15 million child brides annually, 62 million girls still out of education, and one in three women experiencing violence.

Excited to show you this small film I helped make. Hope it gets you going! #Hurdles #GenderEqualityTogether ? @TheGlobalGoals #Goal5 pic.twitter.com/xpEDoXp8ot

— Emma Watson (@EmWatson) September 24, 2016

The Harry Potter star narrates the video, and illustrates the challenges women across the world face by using footage from the women’s hurdles at the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games.

“There are many huge and high hurdles left to jump,” Watson narrates. “The race is still on. Every day of every year of our lives, but we will cross the finishing line. No one can stop us.”

The 26-year-old actress, who also works as a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador, proudly shared the video on Twitter.

“Excited to show you this small film I helped make. Hope it gets you going!” she wrote.

Watson recently addressed the UN General Assembly in New York, where she called for the reform of campus sexual assault policies in the U.S. during a speech on gender equality.

She has now called on universities across America to do better when it comes to serving female students, in particular tackling the widespread issue of campus sexual assault.

“A university should be a place of refuge that takes action against all forms of violence. That’s why, we believe, that students should leave university believing in, striving for, and expecting societies of true equality… in every sense and that universities have the power to be a vital catalyst for that change,” she said in her speech.