SEXUAL VIOLENCE AT MUSIC FESTIVALS
Time for action Dr Hannah Bows, associate professor in criminal law at Durham Law School and deputy director of the Centre for Research into Violence and Abuse, discusses her latest study on sexual violence at music festivals. What can organisers do to tackle the problem? the last few years, there has O ver been increasing attention on safety
at music festivals after several headlines reported one or more rapes or sexual assaults. In 2015, Kate Lloyd wrote a piece for Vice on the “rape problem” at music festivals and industry-wide ambivalence. In 2016, several women reported being sexually assaulted at a music and arts festival in Tasmania, Australia. Sweden’s Bravalla festival announced in 2017 that it would be cancelling the festival the following year due to several rapes and sexual assaults over the fourday event. In 2018, the Statement Festival was held in Gothenburg, Sweden – the first festival exclusively for women, transgender, and nonbinary people. In other words, everyone but (cis) men. Similar headlines appeared in the UK in 2017, and a survey by YouGov that same year reported that
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almost half of female festivalgoers under the age of 40 faced unwanted sexual behaviour at music festivals. However, as we know one in three women and one in six men experience some form of sexual or physical violence in their lifetime and almost all experience harassment or assault in a public place, it is likely that these media reports and surveys reveal only a fraction of the sexual violence that occurs at festivals. In response, several festivals and industry bodies in the UK (and beyond) began to speak up about the issue and commit to improving prevention and support for victims. The Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) led a “black-out” campaign where 28 festivals blacked out their websites to raise awareness of sexual violence and confirm their commitment to addressing it. AIF
also produced a charter that outlines what festivals should be doing and what festivalgoers should expect from them in tackling sexual violence. Many grassroot organisations had already been campaigning for several years to raise awareness and improve policy and practice at festivals, including Safe Gigs for Women, White Ribbon UK, Good Night Out Campaign, and Rape Crisis. It was during this time, and in response to the increased media coverage and industry awareness, that we launched our research project examining sexual violence at music festivals, funded by the British Academy. We wanted to know more about what was happening at festivals – who was carrying out sexual assaults, where were they happening and how were festivals responding operationally and strategically?
