Forceful lyrics on domestic violence strike chord in China

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Quarrel, rape, adultery. Tricky, greedy, sycophantic. Chinese singer Tan Weiwei chants every single term methodically in a two-line string of vulgarities and insults.

The 16 words and phrases in her new music share something in common: The character for female, “nu,” is aspect of the Chinese character for every phrase.

Tan’s forceful and stunning use of these words and phrases — generally applied to disparage ladies — is intended to attract awareness to the situation of domestic violence and has struck a chord in China, exactly where irrespective of rising general public recognition and anger, victims have a tough time acquiring justice.

Throughout many social media platforms, numerous are praising Tan for talking out and contacting awareness to some thing that numerous do not explore publicly.

Her track, “Xiao Juan,” refers to some recent substantial-profile circumstances that have sparked countrywide dialogue and phone calls for better legal defense.

In September, a younger Tibetan lady died soon after her ex-partner came following her with gasoline and set her on fire although she was broadcasting a livestream from her kitchen. In Oct, a video circulated of a man in Shanxi apparently beating his spouse to loss of life though bystanders stood by looking on.

“With fists, with kerosene, with acid… Flushed down the sewer, from the relationship household to sinking in the riverbed,” Tan sings. “Imprisoned my overall body and reduce my tongue, silently weaving tears into the silk and brocade.”

Victims of domestic violence in the region commonly have little recourse to locating justice and reporting is minimal. China only handed a legislation specially criminalizing domestic violence in 2015.

The state-run All-China Women’s Federation estimates that about just one in 3 married Chinese ladies will working experience domestic violence. But in 2018, the federation only logged 39,371 formal experiences from the nation’s approximated 270 million people.

In new yrs additional gals have been willing to discuss up. With the unfold of the world-wide #MeToo actions, dozens of youthful Chinese girls introduced public accusations of sexual harassment versus high-profile gentlemen, with some even bringing the accusations to court. That boldness, nonetheless, has however to transfer to situations of domestic violence.

On Weibo, a commonly utilised microblogging platform, a hashtag named “Tan Weiwei’s music lyrics are genuinely brave” has been seen extra than 340 million periods, significantly more than the 5.2 million sights for the song’s audio movie. Several observed that her track could be joined to true cases of fatalities documented in information media.

Tan’s latest album 3811, tells different women’s stories through 11 songs, from a Tang-dynasty female poet to a 12-yr old woman named Aguo who marries a tree in a ritual ceremony to transition to a lady. But it’s, “Xiao Juan,” the last tune on the album, with its tribute to victims of domestic violence which is garnered the most focus.

Tan requires that these victims be remembered not as “Xiao Juan,” which is related to Jane Doe, or other anonymous names that are often employed in media or law enforcement experiences.

“Our names are not ‘Xiao Juan,’” she sings. “Know my identify. Try to remember my name.”

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AP researcher Chen Si in Shanghai contributed to this report.