FEATURE: A Welcome Security and Support: The Organisations Making Gigs and Festivals Safer for Women

FEATURE:

 

 

A Welcome Security and Support

PHOTO CREDIT: gpointstudio via freepik 

 

The Organisations Making Gigs and Festivals Safer for Women

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IN so many ways…

 PHOTO CREDIT: wayhomestudio via freepik

women have remained unheard and under-appreciated in music. There is the ongoing issue with gender inequality on festival bills. Many female artists signed to labels are not marketed and promoted effectively or as much as their male counterparts. Radio playlists still seem more skewed towards male artists and, when it comes to award ceremonies and acknowledging the female artists who are undoubtedly putting out the best music, they are still being left out of so many categories. Throw into the mix professional studios and a relatively low number of female producers; the horrible abuse many women see online frequently and have to deal with, and there is still a long way to go when it comes to equality and making women feel safe, heard, and valued! I know I write about this a lot, but there are tiny steps being taken each year. Each year, so many women are sexually assaulted or harassed at gigs. Whether a small venue or festival, there are numerous horrific cases of assault and abuse. I am going to come to a musician who is partnering with safegigs4women (who will be appearing at Bush Hall, London on 30th April for the venue’s International Women’s Day) at her upcoming tour dates – to ensure that women feel safer and more secure at her gigs. I will also talk about whether this kind of scheme and idea needs to be rolled out more widely. I want to bring in some statistics and other organisations before then. This article from 2022 relates to an interview conducted with Mary Crilley, the co-founder and CEO of Sexual Violence Centre Cork. She discussed and reacted to some shocking statistics:

“48% of musicians have experienced sexual harassment at work.

  • 79% of women aged between 18 and 24 had experienced or witnessed sexual harassment on a night out.

  • 56% of nightlife workers have experienced sexual violence on a night out or while working in the nightlife environment.

  • almost 9 in 10 women feel unsafe in public spaces.

In 2018, Mary Crilley launched Safe Gigs Ireland, a campaign to respond to the experiences of audiences, creatives, artists and all working within the broader arts and entertainment sector. Her goal was to challenge and tackle environments that were rife with harassment, micro-aggressions and sexual violence.

Through innovative partnerships with musicians, producers and venues, Safe Gigs is leading the charge to reduce sexual harassment. The Safe Gigs Charter provides a model that can be adapted by music, dance and alcohol-licensed venues around the world”.

The Safe Gig Charter is one measure implemented to help make women feel protected at gigs. It is festivals too that have an issue still with sexual violence and harassment. As we head towards festival season, you wonder how many women who would otherwise have been at a festival have cancelled through fear of their own safety. Durham University published an article last summer that shows that, whilst many festivals are implementing safety measures and trying to do their best to ensure women are able to enjoy the music without encountering assault or harassment, there is still a miasma that pervades many festivals. A feeling that they are not safe environments. Given their sheer size and packed crowds, there is relatively little festivals can do:

“The set up and culture of music festivals can create dangerous spaces where sexual violence and harassment can be perpetrated.

That’s according to a new study led by our Durham Law School which found that the combination of size, layout, attitudes and behaviours at festivals can make these events conducive to sexual violence.

The researchers are calling on festival organisers and local authorities to make a real commitment to tackling this and to take it as seriously as other health, safety and environmental issues when organising their events.

Experiences of festival-goers

The study follows a survey conducted in 2018 by the same research team at Durham amongst 450 festival-goers which showed that a third of women had been sexually harassed at a festival and eight per cent had been sexually assaulted. A YouGov poll in 2018 also found that nearly half of female festival goers under 40 had experienced sexual harassment.

As a follow up, 13 women were interviewed about their experiences at festivals in the UK.

It showed that sexual violence and harassment are normal everyday experiences at festivals for the women which ranged from unwanted attention, verbal harassment, groping, sexual assault and rape. The most common experiences were unwanted groping and touching whilst in the crowded stage areas or camping sites.

PHOTO CREDIT: Maria Orlova/Pexels

Lay-out and toxic culture

All the women talked about feeling the need to risk assess and adapt to help reduce the risk of sexual violence, in the same way as women often do in other public spaces. Some had stopped going to festivals all together, others went with male friends whilst others moderated their alcohol intake or avoided certain areas.

The lay-out of music festivals - with very crowded stage areas, campsites, public toilets, dark walkways between areas and poor surveillance – make many women feel unsafe and provide perpetrators with an ‘ideal’ environment.

The study also concludes that the culture of music festivals supports a toxic lad culture with heavy alcohol and drug consumption and the marketing of festivals as hedonistic and escapist.

In 2017, 103 UK festivals committed to the Association of Independent Festivals’ (AIF) Safer Spaces At Festivals campaign, which is aimed at tackling sexual violence at festivals. The initiative sees festivals commit to a voluntary charter of best practice which includes allegations being taken seriously, acted upon promptly and investigated.

Other festivals are also doing their own campaign and policy work, but the researchers say progress is still fairly slow.

They suggest all festivals, not just some, should work with specialist support groups such as Safe Gigs for Women, to devise clear policies. These should include prevention strategies, how they record allegations and respond to them, a requirement to have specialist support on site and training for staff. They recommend that these policies should be mandatory as part of the broader safeguarding requirements festivals have”.

It is thanks to the amazing organisations out there like safegigs4women, Safe Gigs Ireland, and UN Women United Kingdom that steps forward are being taken. The latter published an open letter that was signed by the likes of Emily Eavis (Glastonbury’s organiser), Laura Whitmore, Gabrielle, and Sigrid. Again, reading the statistics makes for shocking and disturbing reading:

“The music industry is celebrating as our festivals and live events reopen to the world. It’s a moment we’ve all been waiting for. In a society that often works to divide us, music has the power to unite us – whatever the tough realities of life may be.

But now we must face our own reality. And this reality is one that our industry has too long ignored: venues, festivals, studios and workplaces are too often not safe spaces for women, girls and marginalised genders.

It is high time we change that, and we have a collective responsibility to take action. This restart needs to be for all of us. Our spaces must provide safety from harassment, violence, and abuse of power. Music should be a place of joy and inclusion for all.

Let’s make 2022 the year the music and events industries rise up to the call of the #MeToo movement – and commit to change.

The problem is everywhere. More than 7 in 10 women have been sexually harassed in the UK, and over 40% of women aged under 40 at a live music event. Within the music sector, over 60% of workers have experienced sexual harassment.

The vast majority of incidents go unreported, with over 95% of women not reporting sexual harassment. Almost half of UK musicians have faced sexual harassment at work, with workplace culture being cited as the greatest barrier to reporting.

We will not wait around while another woman experiences sexual harassment, violence or abuse – as an artist, as a professional, or as a fan. Let’s act now to make our music industry and live events safe.

Through our shared love of music and culture, and our shared respect for each other, we can – and will – work together to make all spaces safe for all people. Be part of the change – add your voice now”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Sascha Hormel/Pexels

I will come to venues soon, but festivals are very much in people’s minds this year. After so many of them reopened last year – following COVID-19 and the restrictions imposed -, there is that extra appetite and desire for people to be at festivals. The Conversation had their say regarding continued incidences of sexual violence/harassment at festivals – and how the spaces are being adapted to ensure there is greater vigilance and heightened security:

“However, festival spaces are not equal spaces. Festival lineups remain dominated by men, and female festivalgoers are also not free to enjoy festivals in the same way as men. In 2018 a poll conducted by YouGov found that over 40% of women under 40 reported being sexually harassed or assaulted.

Together with colleagues, I began a research project in 2018 to explore sexual violence at UK festivals. The first part of our study – a survey of 450 festivalgoers – reinforced the findings of the YouGov poll.

We found that 34% of female respondents reported being sexually harassed or assaulted at a festival in the previous few years, compared with 6% of men. In our study, 9% of women and 1% of men reported being sexually assaulted.

We wanted to explore these experiences and their impact in more detail. We interviewed 13 female festivalgoers aged between 18 and 40 who had been sexually harassed or assaulted at a festival in the previous two years. This included being catcalled and leered at, having a hand put up their dress or skirt, and being rubbed against or groped. It also included penetrative assault.

PHOTO CREDIT: gpointstudio via freepik

“The festival environment

Festivals are not the only spaces women experience sexual harassment or violence. But there are unique aspects of festivals that unfortunately make them ideal locations for perpetrating these acts, while simultaneously making it difficult for women to report or seek help.

Crowded stage areas can provide a cloak of anonymity for perpetrators who harass, grope or assault. Perpetrators can disappear into crowds quickly and are difficult to locate by security or other staff. One woman in our research described this behaviour as like “drive by” misogyny.

Similarly, the walkways between festival and camping areas, as well as the camping sites themselves, were highlighted by women in our study as spaces where they had been harassed or followed. One woman described having a man “break into” her tent and assault her. These spaces rarely have security on site and may be located away from security huts, making it difficult to report quickly.

Culturally, festivals can be locations that see high levels of alcohol and drug intoxication. They are also places where large groups of men attend together. These aspects reduced how safe women (and to a lesser extent, men) felt at festivals in our earlier survey.

The women we interviewed felt these factors created a cultural atmosphere where sexual violence was normalised and sometimes trivialised by friends, other festivalgoers, perpetrators and, in some cases, festival staff, including security.

Women described being shocked and upset and told us that the experience often ruined the festival for them. Some had stopped going to festivals. Others changed their behaviour to reduce the risk of sexual violence in other ways. In other words, women engaged in what is known as “safety work” – such as reducing their alcohol consumption, avoiding certain places and not going to places alone.

Changing the space

One of the unusual features of festivals compared with other nightlife and live music settings is that the venue is not fixed – it is changeable and adaptable. This means that there are opportunities to redesign and reimagine the spatial layout of festivals with preventing sexual violence in mind. This may include placing security or safety ambassadors in specific locations closer to the areas women are reporting harassment or assault, including in crowded stage areas, but a wider conversation about how to modify festival spaces is needed.

There have been positive developments over the last few years. The Association of Independent Festivals, which represents over 100 independent festivals, has developed a charter and campaign to raise awareness of sexual violence. The Association encourages festivals to take the issue seriously, with an approach that means all disclosures are believed and taken seriously in their prevention and response initiatives”.

In terms of organisations that are here to ensure that women feel safer at gigs, it is not about assigning burly security everywhere and making everyone feel intimidated and watched. Opening conversations and chatting with those at gigs about how they can do their part is crucial. Raising awareness and asking attendees how they can help reduce the cases of sexual violence. The Anchoress (Catherine Anne Davies) has joined with safegigs4women. Their mission is to work alongside organisers, venues, and gig-goers to fight sexual assault and harassment at live music events. It is a noble and much-needed protection and voice in the music industry. I was instantly struck by The Anchoress’ tweet on Thursday (20th). I am not sure whether many other artists are taking the same approach but, at a moment when there are women avoiding gigs because they feel unsafe, it is a notion that many other artists should follow. Whilst it is not practical that organisations such as safegigs4women be at every gig, I think there is still a perception that women will be fine and it is none of our business. Reframing the narrative and that mindset is crucial! Organisations and bodies can do all they can, but it is also down to gig-goers to ensure that they look out for women and do not assume that everything is okay. That means, if they see a woman who might be getting hassle or is looking uncomfortable, to check in and make sure they are alright. That presence and approach alone can really make a difference. I hope that a of male artists and bands follow The Anchoress’ lead when it comes to working with great organisations and making gigs a much safer space. It should not be up to female artists alone to be proactive and do their utmost to protect women who come to see them play. I spoke with The Anchoress about her upcoming gigs, how the partnership with safegigs4women came about, and whether she feels things will get better when it comes to the damming and stark figures regarding sexual assault and harassment at venues and festivals.

I do think that things will improve going forward. The statistics that were presented last year show that there is still this hugely troubling environment at many gigs and festivals when women are being assaulted and harassed. There are resources like We Are Music who have as list of organization on their website that include those who are combating and highlighting sexual assault and harassment at live music events. Artists like The Anchoress working alongside safegigs4women will definitely compel others to do likewise. I feel that, through action like this and greater awareness of the problem and scope, venues, festivals, and other spaces will do as much as they can to ensure women feel safer when seeing live music. It is not down to them solely to do this. It is incumbent on all male gig-goers to do the best they can. Whether that is looking out for any women who are being harassed or feel unsafe, or calling out any of their friends who go too far and are part of the damaging and alarming statistic. There is a toxic culture still where many men feel it is okay to assault women or harass them when they are trying to enjoy live music. In addition to raising awareness and increasing protection and security at gigs, tougher punishments for those who are accosted and arrested would be good. Whether that is a lifetime ban which applies to all gigs, this would send a tough message that we can no longer tolerate or accept any form of sexual abuse or harassment in a sphere that should be about community, acceptance and, above all, safety! The fact that many women still feel unsafe when they attend venues and festivals is horrible. Thanks to The Anchoress for sharing her reasons behind working alongside safegigs4women at her upcoming gigs. If more artists and venues take this approach, then it will open up more conversations and change the culture. That can only be…

  IMAGE CREDIT: The Anchoress

A good thing.

Sam Liddicott