Falls organisers condemn alleged sexual assaults at Tasmanian festival

Falls Festival management says it is 'disgusted and angry' over allegations of sexual assaults at the Tasmanian event in Marion Bay, calling for 'boys and men' to 'show some respect'.

The Falls Festival site at Marion Bay, Tasmania.

The Falls Festival site at Marion Bay, Tasmania. Source: Falls Festival

The organisers of the popular Falls Music and Arts Festival say allegations of sexual assault at the New Years concert left them "deeply saddened and disturbed". 

Five women have now reported they were sexually assaulted at the Marion Bay festival in Tasmania. 

Police said the vicitms were aged in their teens and 20s.

"Like everyone else we are disgusted and angry that some people feel they can inappropriately touch others without their consent," the the organisers said in a public post on Facebook.
The post comes following comments from Tasmania Police, who urged victims not to dismiss nonconsensual sexual contact.

“It’s quite clear that the general belief of a lot of young people is that being inappropriately touched by someone else is what happens in the mosh pit,” Detective Inspector Steve Burk news.com.au reported him saying. 

“My view is if you’re not comfortable treating women like that in the middle of the mall you don’t treat them like that in the middle of the mosh pit either.” 

The Falls Festival post called for perpetrators of assaults to be held accountable. 

"We would like to see the conversation turn from telling our women and girls to be on guard and vigilant, to telling our boys and men to have some respect and stop taking these liberties," it read. 

Falls Festival holds simulatenous multi-day festivals at Lorne in Victoria and at Byron Bay in New South Wales. 

Dozens were injured in a stampede at the Lorne event this year, with some patrons sent to hospital.

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Source: SBS News


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