Empowering Bystanders: How One Night at a Gig Inspired a Movement to Prevent Sexual Assault at Music Festivals

It was started when our founder went to a gig. It was her favourite band and then somebody assaulted her. And she was so shocked and so upset that she went back to her hotel and then got there and got angry, basically. And he’s like, no, why am I the one leaving? You know, somebody’s coming, they’ve ruined my night and I’m the one that’s had a ruined night. We know that people do get assaulted at music festivals. We know they get sexually assaulted. And the kind of unique way that they’re set up means that there’s lots of people, there’s lots going on. So if something is happening, people are less likely to intervene cause they think, well, that’s not my job, somebody else to deal with it, you know, I don’t wanna get it wrong, but if everybody. If somebody else will do it, then nobody does it. So what we say is like, if you’re not sure, what’s a non confrontational way of looking at that? So you might wanna say, is everything okay? Do you feel confident to do that? Or you might wanna just distract a little bit and be like, oh, sorry, have you got the time? Or didn’t I see you earlier? Or. Or like, what, you looking for a tampon in the bathroom earlier on? That kind of thing. Just enough to break the tension. And if it you’re wrong, if you’ve got it wrong, if everything is, you know, Fine. The worst you’ve done is potentially have a bit of an awkward conversation. The best you’ve done is prevent something really bad from happening.