'I’m an outsider in my own home': This video voices the unspoken lament of domestic abuse
Sofia Ashraf's words and Ratna Pathak Shah's voice tell what women facing domestic abuse experience, at home or abroad.
“I probably deserved it.”
“He will change.”
“I am doing fine.”
“I will not break.”
These are the words one may not hear when it comes to domestic abuse.
Many women at the receiving end either refuse to talk about it, or choose to live with it.
And it makes no difference for Indian women whether they’re in their home country or in a foreign land.
This film, titled Outsider, shows why.
Written in subtle rhyme by rapper-social activist Sofia Ashraf and narrated by actor Ratna Pathak Shah, the video by Supari Studios brings painful silence on domestic abuse into conversation.
Ashraf, famous for her viral video Kodaikanal Won’t, brings sensitivity to the reason why most Indian women choose to stay – in India and abroad: “What’s the use of picking up the pieces of my life and walking away when I can never make these odds and ends meet?”
Produced in collaboration with Mai Family Services, an NGO that provides assistance to Indian women in the United States, the video creates awareness on how the option to leave seems rare when living in a foreign country.
Outsider shows that the solutions to domestic abuse is difficult but not impossible. It ends it with an appeal to seek help – one may not feel like an outsider if one lets someone in.