Nothing makes me happier than live music, it might be part of my job but it’s also built into me as a person. The roar of the crowd, the excitable butterflies you get in your stomach as the lights go down, and the dizzy high you feel as the night draws to a close. It’s real life magic and for me nothing else compares, but how safe is it for women like me at live music events?
Bands such as The Snuts and Yard Act have recently and rightfully spoken out about incidents of sexual harassment that have happened during their shows, condemning audience members who break the law and make the environment unsafe for other. But is this enough?
The simple answer is no. While it's positive that bands are speaking up about this issue, the fact that sexual assult is still so rife at live music events is the overwhelming negative we must focus on. A major factor at play is the idea you can somehow get away with inappropriate behaviour because you’re in a crowd of people,passing off intentional groping as an accident. It’s in the same vein as when a man grabs hold of your hip whilst saying excuse me, it’s uncomfortable and makes you feel a little bit queezy.
Last year I went to a concert alone and noticed halfway through that an older middle-aged man was stood behind me with his son on the wheelchair accessible platform and came up to me near the end of the gig trying to engage in conversation with me. I politely acknowledged him and left the auditorium, however he then decided to wait at the bottom of the stairlift for me and tried to follow me out the venue, but I managed to lose him and make my way home. Whilst this is a very minor incident it does question the behaviour of men and safety of women at live music events.
Unfortunately as I write this I can hear a chorus of people dismissing me because I’m disabled and insisting I shouldn’t be going out on my own anyway, or that it’s my fault for acknowledging him, but the fact is when many of us feel uneasy we do what we can to please the person so not to cause trouble and end up in a more serious situation. As for me being disabled, my independence shouldn’t be a free pass to do what you like with my body or make me feel uncomfortable in any way.
I admit I’ve been fairly lucky that I haven’t experienced much harassment at live music events, and they generally feel like safe spaces for me, however, it shouldn’t come down to luck. Safety should just be the norm, and the fact we’re still talking about this suggests that more needs to be done to tackle the issue head-on.
In 2021 Safe Spaces Now, a charity helping to end sexual assault said 40% of women under 40 have experienced sexual harassment at a live music event, whilst UN Women UK found that just 3% of 18 to 24-year-old women had not been harassed in a public space. Despite these figures, venue promoters continuously book bands who have allegations of disregarding the safety of others. On Monday it was announced that English rock band Nothing But Thieves would play at Community Festival in London alongside other festival dates in the summer, however, the band have had allegations (which they categorically deny) of sexual assault hanging over them.
Yard Act has addressed the sexual harassment that took place at one of their recent shows:
This is a stern warning to anyone who steps out of line at our shows. Keep yourself in check. Keep your mates in check. No gross comments. Don't stare at anyone and keep your hands to yourself.
The band added that fans had been “Warned with love”.
Unfortunately, the problem stems way beyond live music. It seems near impossible to eradicate inappropriate behaviour and sexual assault in any situation because some will always proceed without consent, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do everything we can to protect people from the behaviour of others and educate people on consent and what that word really means.
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