A video released by Komola Collective, that talks about women empowerment in response to a culture of sexual harassment and violence that exists against women, has gone viral on social media.
The video comes in the wake of sexual attacks on women that were carried out during Pahela Boishakh celebrations at the TSC area of Dhaka University.
The video titled "Amra Durbar - We are boundless," released on Saturday, has already been shared more than 1,200 times on Facebook. Komola Collective is a London-based theatre and arts company. The song was written by Leesa Gazi, and composed by Sohini Alam, Aanon Siddiqua and Oliver Weeks.
"The horrific events of sexual assaults and violence that took place on Pohela Boishakh shook us all terribly. The viciousness of the seemingly planned sexual attacks and the complete disregard for women left me numb," Leesa Gazi, one of the founders of Komola Collective, told the Dhaka Tribune.
"It felt like the right to live the most ordinary, normal, day to day life has been taken away," she said. "It was shocking and terrifying. One question repeatedly crept up on me: who would want to go out after this? Then the next morning I wrote this song."
She then contacted Sohini Alam, another founding member of Komola Collective, to work on this song. Sohini then composed and arranged the song with Aanon H. Siddiqua and Oliver Weeks. The group then asked Langham & Stanmore Films to produce the video of this song, and it all fell into place within a few days.
"When we hear about these kinds of assaults the common reaction is: yes it is bad BUT… there is always a 'but'. Then immediately, a set of questions routinely arise about who she was with, what she was wearing, what she was doing there so late so on and so forth. So the culture of victim blaming need to be changed in our society," says Leesa.
This sentiment is well portrayed in the lyrics of the song which addresses various taboos of our society regarding women's issues, such as women's clothing and women's mobility, which have become a heated topic of discussion recently after several groups systematically carried out sexual attacks on women during the Pohela Boishakh celebrations on April 14.
The first few lines of the song capture the spirit the composers are trying to portray:
"We will step outside morning, noon and night With or without reason
We will wear saris, skirts – sleeveless tops are my favourite What is it with scarves in such heat?!"
"We cannot back down to violence. We cannot cave in to cowardly assaults," says Leesa. "We are just going about living our lives, and if that’s a problem to some men, then they might need to restrain themselves."
The video ends with a bold line, as a message addressing the attackers and those who believe the women brought the attacks on themselves because of their behaviour and/or attire: "Restrain them - eyes, penises, restrain them both."
Leesa added: "Sexual harassment and assaults are nothing new to women. As we grow up we deal with it, we learn to put up with it as a part of life. This mindset, which is entrenched in our society, needs to be changed urgently. Now we need to say out loud that violence against women is a crime; every girl needs to be told that it is unacceptable and it is a punishable offence."