The way a music festival breeds drunken overconfidence and squeezes people skin-to-skin makes my throat catch and my pulse drum in my ears. I’m supposed to be throwing my cares to the wind, but I’m afraid of being sexually abused. I’m afraid of being abused because I have been – many times over.
And I’m not alone. A study by YouGov, found that 87.5% of patrons felt that sexual harassment was present at Australian music festivals, with 2 in 5 women exposed to unwanted sexual advances.
A spokesperson for sexual assault resource centre Angel Hands told me that while unwanted sexual advances are commonly experienced at festivals, incidences are rarely reported to the police. Karen Hogan from the Centre Against Sexual Assault says young people who have taken drugs at a festival are often reluctant to report sexual assault to police for fear that their drug possession will overshadow their abuse allegations.
This year, along with tens of thousands of others, I attended Spain’s Running of the Bulls festival.
Meandering through the crush of tourists and locals is like being lost in a shoal of fish. Draped across the walls enclosing the mass of people were banners mounted by the city council reading ‘NO MEANS NO’ in various languages.
In the words of Vanesa Eguiluz, head of the Spanish gender equality group Amedna, festivals containing large crowds and an alcohol-charged ambience encourage the growth of “predatory, jungle behaviour”.
The banners in San Sebastian are a response to the national outrage which swept across Spain after a high profile assault on an 18-year-old woman at Pamplona’s Running of the Bulls festival in 2016. “La Manada” or “the Wolf Pack” was the title of a Whatsapp group devised by five men to exchange videos of their attack. Dressed in all black and armed with tiki torches, protesters called on leaders to repeal ‘antiquated’ sexual consent laws, following the news that the Spanish court had released “La Manada” on bail after serving less than a quarter of their sentence
Following the protests and the Spanish version of the #MeToo movement, #Cuéntalo, meaning “tell your story”, the local council stepped up their approach to sexual assault in Pamplona. Surveillance was increased and 3,500 guardia civil (national and local police officers) were brought in. An app was launched by the city council that enables women to report abuse directly, sending their location to police headquarters where officers are immediately dispatched. There is also a function for the user to nominate a person from their address book to track their trip and confirm they arrive at their destination safely.
In June this year, the Supreme Court in Madrid overturned the lower court’s earlier ruling and found the Wolf Pack men guilty of rape, rather than sexual abuse, extending their sentence to 15 years in prison. This verdict has given hope to victim advocacy groups agitating to change Spanish law, which only recognises an attack as rape if there is evidence that the victim resisted the attack.
Back in Australia, the campaign It Takes One, launched by band Camp Cope, calls on event organisers and musicians to help combat sexual violence at festivals. The campaign inspired the 1800 Laneway initiative, a hotline for festivalgoers to report inappropriate behaviour. Laneway festival has also signed on to the Good Night Out Campaign, which involves specialist training for staff, makes reporting assault easier, and encourages intervention from bystanders. Falls Festival too has a patron safety hotline at all event sites and sexual assault counsellors onsite.
Murdoch University Criminology Professor Guy Hall says more can be done country-wide in terms of prevention. He emphasises that setting out clear rules on banners and posters warning of the consequences has a noticeable effect. “You are not only making it clear to offenders, but also to the victims who are more likely to report it.” Falls Festival has taken this zero tolerance policy on board and aligned with the Your Choice campaign, which educates patrons about what assault looks like and to call it out when they see it. This is advertised on the website, in regular communications with patrons and throughout the event site. “Predatory behaviour in this space or anywhere will not be tolerated. We want to send that message loud and clear,” says Falls Festival.
Falls Festival is participating in research and surveys to “get a greater understanding on what improvements can be made to ensure patron safety.” Karen Hogan from the Centre Against Sexual Assault suggests well-lit pathways at night-time and enhanced security presence in high-risk areas such as toilet cubicles and long walkways.
But Professor Hall says, “Alcohol is implicated in every form of violence including sexual violence, but there is not much research into it occurring at festivals. More research should be done.” Building women’s confidence to report assault as it happens, and reinforcing male awareness that “no” really does mean “no” may also have an important part to play.
Susi Neumayr is a freelance writer based in Fremantle.
