[WATCH] This is GBV not MTV: Claire Phillips has new music video to help abuse victims
|Published
I’M A SURVIVOR: Claire Phillips, 38
Claire Phillips released her very first music video on Monday and it’s a very personal one, sharing her own experiences of abuse.
With the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children running from tomorrow until 10 December, the local musician has one desire: for all victims of sexual abuse to “come out and speak your truth”.
Claire, 38, originally released the single, called Champion, featuring rapper YoungstaCPT in July, but yesterday she launched the official music video to accompany the first track off her third album, which doesn’t have a title yet.
The four-minute video was shot in Claire’s hometown Belhar, in Chopin Road where she grew up, as well as at Penny Lane Studios in Wynberg in August over two days.
She explains: “The storyline features Quade Bennett who plays the young YoungstaCPT and Christina Brukman plays the young Claire who rescues YoungstaCPT from bullies.
“This is my first ever music video for the duration of my 14-year career in music, so it’s quite special.
“Growing up, for me, music videos were the visual representation of the song.
“But these days it has become more about the flashy cars, the money you can flash, how much booty can be shaken and video vixens, but I wanted to bring it back to being real.
“It feels amazing to have achieved this with an amazing team of coloured excellence at its best.”
Claire says as a rape survi-vor herself, she knows all too well the stranglehold that silence can have on one’s identity.
“No doubt, the shame is unbearable, the feeling of defeat perpetuated by the freedom enjoyed by the abuser while the victim’s self-worth is relegated to an impossible dream,” she says.
“Gender-based violence against women and children is ubiquitous and impact[s] victims in varying degrees, often times resulting in unwanted pregnancies or unsafe abortions, suicide, STDs and, worst of all, death.”
The music video can be viewed on YouTube.