The Safe Spaces Now in the music industry initiative has been launched today by the Un Women’s Safe Spaces Now Project. Organisers of the campaign reported that “the majority of women and girls in the UK are experiencing sexual harassment in public spaces“ and more than 40% of them happening at music events.
The statistics are shocking and revealed that only 3% of 18-24-year-old females haven’t had that kind of experience. Claire Barnett from UN Women UK said: “We had a lot of messages from people in that age group saying they were surprised it was as high as 3%. With young people it feels like a constant experience“.
“Live music is one of those spaces where people expect to be free. It is escapism, it’s your place of joy, and if that is somewhere we are hearing people are afraid then we need to take action” she added.
“It is not OK for women to be constantly worried about their safety at festivals, to make sure they always have phone chargers on them so they can call someone if they feel unsafe“.
The open letter with the info has been posted on social media and stated that 95% of incidents go unreported. It also reveals that UK musicians also faced sexual harassment at work. “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” reads the letter.
The open letter has been so far signed by Anne-Marie, Clara Amfo, MNEK, Rudimental, Holly Humberstone, Ambel and Glastonbury organiser Emily Eavis. Strawberries & Creem festival also signed the pledge. The festival co-founder Chris Jammer said: “We’re passionate about ensuring our events are welcoming, inclusive and safe spaces for people to enjoy music together. Festivals should offer joy and hope to everyone, and they are absolutely no place for harassment or abuse of any form“.
You can read the letter here.
