Girl Effect: Invisible Barriers by Freuds & Partizan

Girl Effect, the organisation born of NIKE Foundation and multiple partners, today launches ‘Invisible Barriers’, a new short film that dramatises the cultural and social norms that hold so many girls back from reaching their full potential.

The animation was created in partnership with Partizan, a content production company, and freuds, a strategy communications firm.

Using the unique visual animation style of Mushtashrik Mahbub (director at Partizan) and an original poem penned by Nigerian-born performance poet, Bassey Ikpi, the film illustrates the complexities of a girl’s life in poverty. We see that whilst the world is making incredible strides in providing the health, education, safety and financial services that girls need and deserve, negative attitudes and entrenched social norms prevent girls from accessing them.

The film delivers a powerful challenge: that by breaking down these “Invisible Barriers” we can create a ‘new normal’ for girls. A new normal where girls are able to stay in school, get access to health services and get married only if and when they choose; where they are supported by rather than dependent on their communities; where they are visible and vocal, as full participants in society.

Girl Effect’s work is already providing answers to this challenge. Made by girls and for girls, Girl Effect’s portfolio of locally rooted culture brands and platforms deploy positive role models, emotive storytelling and peer-to-peer connectivity to build girls’ confidence in their own potential and change the way millions of people think, feel and acts towards them.