I know I sound like “that person,” but I love a good music festival. When I bought my Saturday ticket for The Governors Ball Festival on Randall’s Island, I let myself get nostalgic about the weekend I had spent there last year. I had an amazing three days full of memories, my high school friends and a life-changing lemon-and-poppy seed doughnut. But with all of the happy times came some unfortunate interactions, one including a middle-aged man tapping my shoulder and whispering, “You look amazing,” while staring directly into my cleavage.
Episodes of sexual harassment and assault happen all too often at music shows and more needs to be done to combat these unsafe interactions.
I want to acknowledge that much of the discussion and many of the articles written about sexual harassment only really address the harassment of women by men. It should be said that all people, no matter what their gender or sexuality, can be harassed or harass others, and the problem of harassment will only be solved once everyone feels safe and comfortable.
Music festivals and other music events bring crowds that can sometimes consist of tens of thousands of people. Organizing events as big as this requires a massive amount of planning and logistics. Many festivals have guides on their websites about how to optimize your experience. However, many of these guides do not give information about issues like consent and advice on how to successfully report harassment or assault.
In an article about the 2016 Ultra Music Festival in Miami, Florida, Ryan Pfeffer of the Miami New Times wrote, “If there were half as much literature and signage about sexual assault as there was about 7-Up at Ultra, it won’t solve the problem outright, but it just might help start a much-needed conversation, one that will pay off in the future.”
While there is often a general air of positivity and friendliness at festivals, it is important to not turn a blind eye to the reality of sexual harassment. In a 2013 UK survey about music festivals, one person responded, “I think there definitely is an idyllic view of festivals … But in reality, they’re just like society downsized — there are going to be the same pockets of people who are okay with doing harm to others.”
Music festivals and live music shows are often advertised as an escape from everyday anxieties. People may see locations like a festival grounds or a concert arena as an anonymous place where “normal rules” about respecting other people’s boundaries don’t count. The chances of keeping in touch with the strangers you encounter in a mosh pit are relatively slim. People may not feel the same sense of responsibility that they might in a different space.
“Once [women] enter into a fest or a party, it’s like she signed off whatever happens,” said Kelly Oliver, a professor of philosophy at Vanderbilt University. “If she’s dancing, it’s an invitation.”
I have often noticed men unapologetically staring lewdly at me or even approaching me when I am dancing with my friends at shows. Sometimes they seem confused that I have no interest in their advances, even if we have not made eye contact. While I’ve been lucky that they have not forced themselves onto me, other people are not as fortunate.
The organizers of the Bråvalla Festival in Östergötland, Sweden, announced that the 2018 festival would be canceled after four rapes and 23 sexual assaults were reported at the 2017 festival.
An article written by two criminology lecturers at the University of New South Wales offered tips for festival organizers. These tips included enforcing a zero-tolerance policy against assault and harassment with specific punishments for perpetrators, training everyone working at the festival to appropriately identify and respond to sexual violence and harassment and encouraging artists performing at festivals to take a concrete stand against sexual violence. They also highlighted the importance of providing clear avenues for patrons to report incidents of sexual violence.
Music festivals are expensive and everyone who attends them deserves to have a wonderful time without being worried about potential harassment or assault. I owe music festivals and concerts for some of the best experiences of my life. But it is imperative that efforts are made to make these environments harassment-free.
Annick Tabb is a sophomore double-majoring in English and political science.