Female students participated in The Girls Build LA Challenge by attending a forum Sept. 29. to address challenges young women face.

The event premiered the film ‘He Named Me Malala,’ which depicts the story of Malala Yousafzai, a Pakastani activist for female education and female rights. In 2012, the Taliban stopped her school bus from going home. A Taliban member shot her for being resistant. She has advocated for education since then .

“The movie itself was extremely motivating and influential, but the sheer sight of 7,000 girls dedicated to feminism and equality for both genders and all races in the same theater was the most motivational and most important part of the event, ” Megan Cohen ’17 said.

The Girls Build LA Challenge is designed to encourage middle and high school girls to find ways to solve gender-related problems in their community and to support them in obstacles they face as girls. It stresses three areas: Education, Life Skills & Leadership and Health & Wellness.

Following the screening, students saw a pre-recorded message by Michelle Obama that congratulated the girls who attended the event for rallying for an important cause.

“It was really exciting to see [the story] culminate in one phenomenal movie that feminists like me were very passionate to see,” Phoebe Sanders ’17 said. “Seeing everyone else my age rally around to support [Malala] really made me think about what we can do as a community to affect a greater cause.”