Swedish festival Bråvalla faced a unique and serious issue following their last festival: 23 accounts of sexual assault and four accounts of rape. This essentially caused the folks behind the event to cancel next year’s event altogether.
Police in the southeastern district of Ostergotland said they had received four reports of rape and 23 reports of sexual assault over the four-day event, attended by thousands of people. Similar assaults were reported at last year’s edition, as well as other music festivals in Sweden and abroad.
“This is so disgusting. These are obnoxious acts by deplorable men,” Prime Minister Stefan Lofven told the Swedish daily Expressen on Sunday, calling for stronger surveillance at festivals. “This must stop.”
In place of it, though, an all women’s festival will be happening. Radio personality Emma Knyckare posed this question on Twitter: “What do you think about putting together a really cool festival where only non-men are welcome, that we’ll run until ALL men have learned how to behave themselves?” The potential festival is still far from an official announcement but may gain serious traction from women looking for a safer space to party.
Sisterhood is @GlastoFest‘s 1st ever women only venue! Come join us in @ShangrilaGlasto at #Glastonbury2016#SisterhoodShangrila
— The Sisterhood (@join_sisterhood) May 26, 2016
In the UK, the idea of “man-free” venues has already taken hold. In 2016, the Glastonbury Festival introduced an area called The Sisterhood open to “all people who identify as women.”
What are your thoughts on this “man-free” music festival? Is it the right move? Comment below with your thoughts!
wasnt this called the lillath fair or something back in the day
This double standard is interesting. “Some” men do bad things, so lets ban them ALL untill ALL men stop.
“Some” muslims do bad things. “Oh no its not representative of the whole religion we have to be inclusive”
Why dont we ban ALL muslims? Untill they ALL stop? Or *insert any group or demographic* for that matter