‘Sarah Deserved To Walk Home’: Young Maltese Artist Writes Catchy Yet Haunting Tune For Femicide Victims
A young Maltese digital artist has penned a song in honour of victims of femicide and it’s guaranteed to get stuck in your head instantly.
Seventeen-year-old art student Greta Holland wrote the song after the death of British woman Sarah Everand, whose shocking murder reignited a global conversation on violence against women.
“I wrote this song because the tragic murder of Sarah Everard is not only an individual case, but a reminder to all women that the change we make when we go out, all the precautions we take sometimes don’t matter, ” Holland captioned the song.
The lyrics are a sombre pondering of cliche advice given to women in order to protect themselves, which is sometimes not enough to save them from femicide or harassment.
were you on the brighter side of the road
was somebody following you home
did you have too much to drink
did you even really think
to tell your friends just where you are
check the inside of your car
you know your keys won’t work the best
but it’s your only self-defence
Holland told Lovin Malta that, like many other people the death of Everard affected her deeply.
“I wondered how common of an occurrence it was, I ended up finding a list of women who were victims of femicide.”
“Sarah was doing everything right. Sarah deserved to walk home safely, and so did every woman who’s ever faced sexual harassment of any kind from a stranger, or someone they know or trust. Her case shows that sometimes we can’t even trust the people whose job it is to protect us,” she wrote.
Holland’s deep-cutting song is dedicated to the 120 victims of femicide in the UK in 2020. It’s simple, catchy and a stark reminder of how many lives are lost to violence every year.
Lovin Malta is giving a platform to victims of sexual assault after nearly 1,000 people divulged their stories anonymously. Read the heart-wrenching stories of rape, harassment while commuting, abuse in clubs and Malta’s consent laws.
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