To celebrate International Women’s Day, Google Indonesia launched the #YukBukaSuara campaign. Through this initiative, Google seeks to inspire more Indonesian women, especially young women, to understand the difference between stereotypes and facts, perceptions and reality, as well as the voices of society in comparison with voices that lie within themselves.

Google sees women as the pillars of strength for their families and the people around them. Therefore, women empowerment is important so Indonesian women could have their own identity and voice, especially given the fact that in reality, this country has not been fair to women.

According to the Global Gender Gap Report published by the World Economic Forum, Indonesia is ranked 101 in the gender equality index, where female labour participation is 30% behind men and 83% of women's work is in the informal sector.

“We as women want to fight the impossible, break the barriers and be on top. By [for instance], clicking a button and asking Google a question, Google can generate knowledge that inspires perspectives and opens up new worlds,” said Google Indonesia Head of Consumer Apps Marketing Fida Heyder.

Google also collaborated with Indonesia female rock trio Voice of Baceprot (VoB), which is known for its plenty of musical achievements along with its high quality world-famous music. 

“They are able to voice the musical genre that they like, namely the rock/metal genre, which is certainly not a common thing among young Indonesian women, not to mention that all of its members wear hijab and all the stereotypes associated with hijabis,” said Fida. 

She further mentioned how in Indonesia, people tend to have the stereotype that women should be able to cook and if they play music, it should be soft music and so on.

“[However], they (VoB) continue to inspire women through their music about stereotypes, prejudices and all of societal views about what they are currently feeling. This is certainly in line with what #YukBukaSuara is currently running,” Fida added.

During International Women’s Day, VoB released a new song titled “[Not] Public Property”. VoB sees this single as a movement to provide a safe zone for women to speak up and express their thoughts and concerns related to their bodies. 

“We wrote this song to encourage women to have the courage to speak out about themselves and their desire, emphasising to the world that they are not anyone's property - they are their own. It is due to the fact that so far women are often considered as public property where everyone is allowed to interfere with anything that concerns their bodies,” VoB elaborated.

In late 2021, VoB successfully held its first European tour. Despite all of its success, VoB told TFR that they still often encounter sexist comments. 

“One once commented that the audience in Europe was attracted to us solely because we wear hijab. In fact, drawing from our experience performing there, the audience were very appreciative. They appreciate our skills and the way we perform on stage,” VoB stated.