Female artists claim sexual abuse limiting them

Sexual abuse in the music industry—does that mean anything to you? Maybe it will after you hear it from the horse’s mouth.

Musician Wendy Harawa claims to have had her music rejected by some DJs after rejecting their sexual advances.

Now, she is afraid that songs from her forthcoming album might not enjoy airplay if Nation Online goes ahead to publish in detail of her ordeal.

But she is willing to talk about the corporate world and how they sexually harass female musicians.

“They look at female artists as sex objects. Most of the time when I visit their offices they ask for sex or sexual relationships and they would not render any help if I don’t comply with their desires,” she says.

And the Musicians Union of Malawi (MUM) leadership is aware of such tendencies.

“During a meeting a few weeks ago, we also had similar revelations. A lot of female musicians opened up and explained how some sponsors ask for sexual favours.

“The unfortunate part is that some of them revealed that they yielded to such advances with the hope of rising in their music career,” said MUM president the Reverend Chimwemwe Mhango.

MUM women’s desk, established to address such issues, regrets that female artists report when ‘deals go sour’.

“When they come out in the open, it’s either they have contracted diseases or they have not been helped as expected. It’s unfortunate that some of these women are gospel musicians or in steady marriages,” said MUM women’s desk chairperson Martha Mituka.

Lucius Banda, a long time music promoter and veteran musician, runs short of words to admit occurrence of such abuses.

“There was a time in my music career where I wanted my music to enjoy more airplay and the DJs wanted bribes. So, I wouldn’t rule out such tendencies. I am not a female artist myself to delve into details,” he says.

For a long time, there has been an outcry for low representation of female artists in the industry. This is one of the reasons that drive women into hiding, argues Blackamoor, a rapper.

“A lot of women want to excel, own bands as well as studios. But, in a music industry dominated by men, they face a lot of challenges.

“Some are thought to be in the industry for men and are asked to get into sex affairs in return for any help they may need to boost their music career.

“I know a handful of female artists who thought having affairs with other well known male artists and radio, television or newspaper personalities, then their career will boom,” she says.

She says the morally upright ones who refuse such advances are discouraged, discredited and undermined by the male music gate-keepers.

“Morally upright ladies in the music industry are few. They work so hard. They refuse to be used, hoping to rise on merit. But they are frustrated when they deny sexual affairs with music managers. As a result, they give up; stop dreaming big,” she says.

Following such revelations, MUM has put in place a number of interventions to address the situation.

Mhango said one such intervention is to lobby broadcasters to increase airplay of local music, more especially for women, on local radio stations.

He observed that foreign beats are dominating airwaves, an aspect that is making musicians desperate for airtime.

“We also want to conduct workshops with promoters to reason with each other in upholding the dignity of women,” said Mhango, while advising the ladies to report any abuse.

Mhango said apart from sexual abuse, the union is struggling to root out corruption between DJs and musicians.

“Corruption is another vice we are failing to deal with. It is rampant even in religious radio stations. But the problem is that musicians are desperate to have their music played due to the invasion of foreign beats on our local radio stations,” he says.

With these challenges one would expect a vibrant women’s desk, but, according to Mituka, the desk is as good as dead. The desk is operating without any funding although their budget stands at K10 million.

“With K10 million [$17 794], we can be productive. But we have completely nothing in our account to conduct trainings and fund women in need of support. For example, we are failing to fund Masintha Women’s Choir with K50 000 [$89].

“As a result, women in the industry are selling their bodies to get famous,” says Mituka.

Lucius advises fellow male musicians and promoters to man up and avoid taking advantage of the desperate ladies for sexual satisfaction.

“A real man must hunt his animal and be proud after the hunt. We should not take advantage of the desperate situation of our female artists,” he advises.

Media Institute of Southern Africa (Misa) Malawi Chapter chairperson Thom Khanje admitted that it is unprofessional and unethical for media personnel to demand kick-backs from musicians.

Khanje, however, called upon the musicians to desist from making wild allegations, imploring them to produce evidence and report any abuse to relevant authorities for redress.

“Making allegations without evidence will not help matters. In fact, it’s unfair to media personnel because not all of them are unprofessional,” he said.