00:04Outsiders often see Sweden as a progressive utopia, but even here, in one of the most egalitarian societies in the
00:10world, women still face an uphill battle.
00:13It's kind of difficult to avoid the subjects.
00:16The law is saying that it's okay to have sex even though someone is telling you no.
00:22The Fatsa song is a collection of hundreds of women's stories about sexual violence.
00:29In a country where music is a celebrated cultural statement and a tool for international influence, we speak to the
00:36women who are using their voices to give rise to the sound of consent.
00:43We're going to go hang out with Vanessa Marco, who's one of the co-founders of Fantastic.
00:53So, tell em, tell em, tell em boy!
00:56Vanessa is a true badass. She's a rapper and a DJ and a proud advocate of sisterhood and solidarity.
01:08So, tell us about Femtastic. How did you guys get started?
01:12Um, Femtastic started as a party actually. Female artists, rappers, didn't get any gigs. You can see them nowhere, you
01:23know, there was like only guys DJing everywhere, like, selecting everything.
01:28We decided we should do our own thing.
01:33The clubs, where we create space for women who DJ, sing, rap.
01:47We want to change the male dominated structures of the music industry in Sweden and in the world, of course.
01:57What are some of the biggest issues women face here in Sweden?
02:02Well, unequal pay is a big issue and it's very spread out in like all work spheres of Sweden.
02:12And then I'm thinking about violence also, like violence against women, sexual violence.
02:20So, we've been, we have this song, Fatta for example, that you know about.
02:24The Fatta song is a collection of hundreds of women's stories about sexual violence.
02:43This song has brought this problem up.
02:47One major issue that Fatta sees it is that we don't have a law that is like, build up from
02:53the point that there should be consent when people have sex.
02:59The law is saying that it's okay to have sex even though someone is telling you no.
03:06Because the law is not built up on consent.
03:08If rape isn't defined by lack of consent, how is rape defined in Swedish laws?
03:15That's a main issue also in Sweden, that rape in Sweden, just a word.
03:21In English, there is no, like, connections to violence in the word itself, rape.
03:27But in Sweden, the word for rape has violence in it.
03:34And that's also something that you pick up in the law.
03:38Because how you define a rape in Sweden is by violence or like a threatened about violence.
03:45Or you should be in a certain dangerous situation.
03:51And so there is not, like, there had to be consent or not.
03:57Fatta, or as you would say in English, get it, is a movement against sexual violence and for consent.
04:06In Sweden, we have approximately 100 rapes per day.
04:12So 36,000 rapes a year.
04:16And that is only what you, in law, consider as rape.
04:20I think the main issue is that even Swedes has this picture of being this great gender equality land.
04:30We're not.
04:31Because there is so much more to be done.
04:37Snövid is a Swedish visual artist.
04:39His work is fueled by the inequality that women experience.
04:42And the exploration of just who exactly bears the burden of violence and shame.
04:48From photos, to film, to video and audio installations.
04:52Snövid is using a variety of mediums to capture what it means to be a woman in the 21st century.
04:57Have you created an art piece that addresses sexual violence against women?
05:01It's so common that it's kind of difficult to avoid the subjects.
05:06I was in a room, and I was having sex with a man.
05:11I had thigh-high black stockings on.
05:18So the image is still there in my head.
05:23I did a specific piece called The Greater Harm.
05:26And with that work, I wanted to kind of stretch the idea of who carries the burden of all these
05:34victims.
05:34Is it something that you carry along in society just by knowing that it exists?
05:42And is it actually interesting to know who it happened to?
05:47Why it happened? Or in what way it happened?
05:50Or is it more interesting to actually talk about the fact that it's happening over and over and over again?
05:58And what kind of impact that has on everyone?
06:01What do you feel is the art world's responsibility towards advancing women's rights?
06:07I think the art world has a responsibility in creating a room and a space for females to work with
06:15art.
06:16I mean, you can see a reflection from your life in what you create.
06:20I mean, if you look at the art world, you see an under-representation of women.
06:24And that also creates an imbalance in the world where the art is being presented.
06:32Snowbin invited us to participate in her latest project, a soundscape of women discussing gender issues.
06:39I think to build gender equality, we need to start by being honest and being vulnerable.
06:48I, as a woman, need to have the courage to be honest.
06:53I need to have the courage to really take my time and explain what's going on, what's happening to me.
06:59I married a man very young and then ended up getting divorced quite young.
07:04And I didn't start considering myself as an individual until I was so boxed into a heteronormative traditional life
07:13that it started to occur to me that I hadn't consulted myself.
07:18I think my most recent experience with gender inequality was being in a relationship with somebody,
07:25with a man who on occasion would speak for me and I would feel like I could not speak for
07:33myself.
07:34I was sitting on a tube and I had this guy sitting opposite to me and all of the seats
07:40next to me, they were empty.
07:42So I felt like, okay, he's going to try to shut me up.
07:46So I just looked away and then I saw, it was hard not to see, but then I saw that
07:55he took his dick out and started to jerk off.
07:59And I remember looking at his face and he had this big smile.
08:03And at that moment it doesn't matter if I feel strong-minded and a powerful woman.
08:12Like in that second you feel, you feel so small.
08:15I am a feminist and the expression to me is actually pretty simple.
08:21To me it just means the social, political and economic equality of the sexes.
08:34It's our last site in Sweden and we're headed to a bar that fantastic is taking over.
08:40Even when progressive politics dominate the landscape, the lack of equality for women can still be found.
08:47It seems if you're constantly labeled as one of the most progressive countries, that in itself can silence the women
08:53who are still trying to address pervasive gender issues.
08:57I think that we need to create structures, infrastructures where women of different races, different sexualities are in a majority.
09:09Women should have the same space and power and opportunities and possibilities to create their own lives and choices.
09:20And not be restrained by being women, not be judged from being women.
09:27we errored we call three times and are disciplining through the same-minded people."
09:37THE END
09:38THE END
09:39móng
