JAYAPURA, SUARAPAPUA.com — Yab Sarpote, a musician from Jogja, has released a single song and video clip a pop genre titled “Women Died Under the Bridge (Perempuan Mati di Bawah Jembatan)”on April 28th, 2020.
Yab explained through a written letter received by suarapapua.com at the end of April, said that four years before the live version of this song, “Women Died Under the Bridge” became a background song for the documentary movie More Than Work (2019) by Konde Institute with the Ford Foundation and Wikimedia Indonesia, a movie about the exploitation of women’s bodies in the media, this song was first sung on the solidarity stage for women victims and survivors of sexual violence on May 10th, 2015, at the Zero Point of Jogja Province.
“Four years ago, dozens of people attended the event held to condemn the robbery, murder and rape of E.M, a student from Universty of Gajah Mada (UGM). On a sunny morning, EM was found death under the Janti Bridge, Jogja. The perpetrators of the violence are E.M’s angkringan customers,” he explained.
Yab mention that the Data from The National Commission on Violence against Women (KOMNAS) show that during 12 years violences against women increased eightfold or equal to 792 percent in Indonesia. Throughout 2019, there were 431,471 cases of violence against women. This number increased by 6 percent from the previous year, which was 406,178 cases.
“These are only reported and recorded cases. Most likely more actual cases. This data shows how women are increasingly living in an insecure world,” he said. He continued to explain that the cases of violence against women were exacerbated by the perspective and treatment majority of people who are gender biased towards victims and survivors of violence, especially sexual violence.
The women who become victims and survivors often not receive a defense, protection, and support, but they receive accusations and victim blaming. Victims and survivors of sexual violence are often seen as unable to protect themselves, unable to dress as ‘appropriately’, and unable to fulfil the behavior expectations from the society. Violence against women is often tolerated and branded as a result of women’s own mistakes.
In a threatening world like this, a women especially those who become victims and survivors of violence, must fight to survive alone. Victims and survivors of violence not only face violence from the perpetrators, but also trauma from the society.
So, it is not uncommon for victims and survivors of violence to experience depression and mental disorders, even having suicidal tendencies.
“Through its lyrics, tone and composition, the song “Woman Dead Under the Bridge (Perempuan Mati di Bawah Jembatan)“ tries to interpret and represent the oppressions of women in a world that normalizes this gender-based violence,” said Yab.
During the 2015-2019 range, said Yab, there was only a live version for this song that was used as the background song of the documentary mentioned earlier.
Watch the video and listen to the song here:
Only at the end of 2019, Yab decided to record this song seriously by embracing Rarya Lakshito (Cello) and Sheila Maildha (Keyboard) to enrich songs that are usually performed only with this acoustic guitar. The result is the current official audio release. Explained, the process of recording, mixing, and mastering “Woman Died Under the Bridge” was carried out at Studio Jogja Audio School by one of the studio engineers, namely Eta.
“The visual work of this song was designed by a graphic designer from Bulgaria, namely Davey David, while the entire production and post-production of the video clip were worked on independently by Yab himself,” he said.
Parallel to this, the video clip of this song also tries to visualize trauma, depression, mental disorders, alienation, and suicidal tendencies experienced by women who are victims of violence.
Reporter: Arnold Belau
Translator: Imelda Kopeuw
