Sleaford Mods have taken to social media to speak out against the reported sexual assault that took place during their Bristol gig on Saturday.
The Nottingham Punk Duo were performing at the O2 Academy in Bristol this weekend when the reports surfaced that a female fan had been groped in the audience. The band released their latest album ‘Eton Alive’ in February which has received a widespread of encouraging reviews from the likes of The Guardian and Meta Critic, and their Bristol show was a sell-out. The incident has allegedly taken place whilst the band were performing; the pair took to Twitter to condemn such acts:
We’ve had a report of a female fan being groped in the crowd last night. Touching anyone without their consent is not acceptable no matter how you dress it up. If you think groping women is acceptable don’t bother buying a ticket, we don’t want your money & you’re not welcome.
— Sleaford Mods (@sleafordmods) April 7, 2019
The lack of female safety at music events is becoming a prevalent issue, and Sleaford Mods are just one of many artists to speak out against this problem. In a study carried out in 2018 by Durham University professors, it was revealed that 70% of women are concerned about sexual assault at music festivals, with 30% stating that they have been the victim of sexual harassment at music festivals in the past. ‘Safe Gigs for Women (SGFW)’ is an establishment that was founded in 2015 by regular gig-goers to help raise awareness of sexual assault and abuse at gigs, concerts, festivals etc. SGFW works with all those associated with the music industry but most importantly with venues and their management, to educate them on the precautions that should be carried out in order to prevent sexual misconduct at events. Of course, venues cannot control who buys tickets to the events that are held, but they do integrate the rules of behaviour once inside the venue.
Sleaford Mods may have spoken out most recently about sexual assault at their show, but they certainly are not the first. Many artists have attempted to tackle this issue in the past including those such as Drake, Madison Beer and Sam Carter from The Architects who have all stopped their show to intervene an act of sexual misconduct that they were witnessing in the crowd. This is clearly a hard issue to tackle and to prevent, but if more artists follow in the footsteps of Sleaford Mods, it will hopefully result in safer environments for music events in the future, where women do not have to worry about sexual misconduct when trying to enjoy watching their favourite artists perform.
