Article on Girls Festival vulnerability

[Nickyboy]

Saw this interesting (and depressing) article on the BBC today.  I've never really witnessed anything untoward at Glastonbury, so I was wondering how prevalent it is?  I would like to think I would step in if I saw anything untoward going on:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-48447964

 

[Homer]

I'm probably being naive but can't work out how anytihng major could happen that often at a festival thankfully, being that you're nearly always about 6ft from another person (who presumably isn't an arsehole) at a festival, and the whole thing is so unsoundproofed (including tents).

[H.M.V]

Link that isn't broken. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-48447964

 

[CaledonianGonzo]

There was at least one fairly serious sexual assault in 2017 near the bridge at Silver Hayes.

[cb4747]

It is something that is always in the back of my mind to be aware of, sadly. 

[Nickyboy]

14 minutes ago, cb4747 said:

It is something that is always in the back of my mind to be aware of, sadly. 

God, that's depressing.  I didn't realise things were so bad

[guypjfreak]

17 minutes ago, cb4747 said:

It is something that is always in the back of my mind to be aware of, sadly. 

Shouldn't be tho... Sad... 

[barkley87]

21 minutes ago, cb4747 said:

It is something that is always in the back of my mind to be aware of, sadly. 

Same. Both at festivals and in daily life. 

[Amy Lawn]

There was a report on here quite recently from a user who had been sexually assaulted by a stranger who entered her tent at night. 

Speaking as a man I think we're ignorant to how ingrained this shit is, but stuff like unwanted touching and groping in public spaces seems to be an inevitable fact of life for most women in this country. It's naive to say there aren't shitty men at Glastonbury because there absolutely are, and they're not fringe weirdos. There will be literally hundreds, if not thousands, of men at Glastonbury who'll partake in some everyday harassment and worse.

We probably need a female perspective in here or somebody itk about this to give us advice on what we should do about looking out for women at Glastonbury and making it a safe space, but I'd guess that getting to know your tent neighbours and calling out any shit you see is a good start.

[gfest2009]

I got repeatedly groped in the Rocket Lounge one Thursday at a Mik Artistik set of all things. Suffice to say he (the groper, not Mik) got told to fuck right off by myself and my husband. I'm a plus size girl so thankfully don't have to deal with the unwanted attention as much as in my slimmer days, but unfortunately it does exist. My younger sister has been harrassed the last two times she went to the corner shop a few minutes walk from her flat and works in the restaurant business so I hear all sorts of horror stories off her ???.

[bexj]

Its very prevalent sadly, and not just men to women either. A good place to start is https://sgfw.org.uk/ Safe gigs for women who work with gig venues, bands and festivals to highlight the problem and give some great advice on what do in this situation, whether you are the victim or whether you suspect something is happening to someone else.  You could also check out the Everyday sexism website where theres 1000s of examples of where women are made to feel uncomfortable or threatened in situations that a man may not necessarily believe they are being threatening.  And talk to your wives, girlfriends, mates etc... I think you'd be shocked. 

[MetaKate]

I've spoken before about the tall bloke who poked me in the shoulder blades for a few minutes before I realized what was going on. (I'm very short, he was very tall, and had an exposed erection out in a dance tent) After being told repeatedly to fuck off, by me, by my Male friend, he still would not, and we had to leave as he was following me through the tent and it became more that just a guy acting fucked up bc he was fucked up. 

I tend to do a lot of things alone, in life, travelling, and at the festival. Im just glad I was with friends at that point. 

Most of the festival I feel safe, but I'm always aware of myself and others, especially when I'm alone, as there are some bad ones lurking round. 

[grumpyhack]

As bexj says not just to women either.  I was at a folk festival a couple of years ago when a young woman who was dancing in front of me put her hands behind her and deliberately reversed into me and started touching me up.  I backed away and got out of the tent straight away.

[dazednconfused]

It happens. Glasto benefits from a higher average age and thus more “experienced” women. (any female over 35 who never had at least one nasty experience can count themselves lucky)

Men do underestimate it all massively. And women play it down! My other half was in for a shock when the #metoo thing went around and a girl at his work mentioned an uncomfortable (read: wholly unacceptable) situation, I told him at home, I reckon every woman’s been there, me included. He just stared at me and said “fuck, men are disgusting” after like 5 minutes.

While, thank Fuck, nothing serious ever happened to me, I see how it could. 

I had a youngster trying it on in 2017. Was walking walking up the service road by Kidney Meads, early hours, probably screamed awake a few people, with my resounding “Fuck off” and pushing him into the hedge...

if that guy had been more sober, bigger or older himself might have been a different story though... 

I would have tried to run or directly grabbed some of the people walking along, gently ignoring the situation, but vigilance is crucial. And if one wants to get fucked (the not literal sense), never ever (anywhere) walk home alone.

 

 

[Spindles]

Sad to be in 2019 and still reading these things.  Confront it wherever you see it folks, remember that those who would do this are empowered by getting away with it.  Don't let them.

[dazednconfused]

1 minute ago, Spindles said:

Sad to be in 2019 and still reading these things.  Confront it wherever you see it folks, remember that those who would do this are empowered by getting away with it.  Don't let them.

The key, I feel, is for others to feel ok to interfere. Better ask someone if they are ok and disrupt a domestic than walking past a potentially dangerous situation. 

 

[sprocketrocket]

I was amazed when I went running with a young (early 20s) girl that I work with, in my 40 years of living as a human person I'd never actually witnessed catcalling and wolf whistling - I just assumed it was over exaggerated on TV and stuff. We've been out a few times now and it happens every time. 

[MetaKate]

7 minutes ago, grumpyhack said:

As bexj says not just to women either.  I was at a folk festival a couple of years ago when a young woman who was dancing in front of me put her hands behind her and deliberately reversed into me and started touching me up.  I backed away and got out of the tent straight away.

I agree that women can also be inappropriate and make a man feel violated, but the truth is that men dont fear that they are then going to be physically overpowered and potentially raped. 

[gherkin8r]

3 minutes ago, dazednconfused said:

The key, I feel, is for others to feel ok to interfere. Better ask someone if they are ok and disrupt a domestic than walking past a potentially dangerous situation. 

 

I feel like telling a man with an exposed erect penis who is poking a girl in the back to fuck off isn't an appropriately strong response. Security or preferably police need to be alerted immediately to such behaviour to reduce the likelihood  of a similar or more severe offence occurring. 

[dazednconfused]

6 minutes ago, gherkin8r said:

I feel like telling a man with an exposed erect penis who is poking a girl in the back to fuck off isn't an appropriately strong response. Security or preferably police need to be alerted immediately to such behaviour to reduce the likelihood  of a similar or more severe offence occurring. 

Agreed.

I would probably go right in with my knee in that case if I got a chance. Women got to look out for each other.

What about someone verbally harassing (which doesn’t always look like what it is) a woman? Which easily is a precursor to physical assault. No police or security around. What will you do?

This is what I mean with interference. Too often no one says anything.

Edited June 7, 2019 by dazednconfused

[gherkin8r]

7 minutes ago, dazednconfused said:

Agreed.

I would probably go right in with my knee in that case if I got a chance. Women got to look out for each other.

What about someone verbally harassing (which doesn’t always look like what it is) a woman? Which easily is a precursor to physical assault. No police or security around. What will you do?

Indeed, the act described constitutes a physical assault and a violent response is justified if not ideal. 

Verbal harassment is harder to call without context but if it looked potentially serious and like it might escalate I would be fairly sure I would intervene to gauge the situation better. I have a friend who got a bad hiding once from both the man and woman in question in a similar situation. 

For me this should almost be easier in a crowd where the other people around I believe should (and would) assist any intervention if things took a turn for the worst. 

Edited June 7, 2019 by gherkin8r

[mike86]

1 hour ago, GETOFFAMYLAWN said:

There was a report on here quite recently from a user who had been sexually assaulted by a stranger who entered her tent at night. 

I know its very rare, but I wouldn't let my girlfriend go back to the tents at night on her own unless I knew someone else from our group was there. 

 

With that many people at festival under the influence there bound to be some horrible creatures about. 

[bexj]

I was woken at a festival only 2 weeks ago by a male neighbour shouting "get off me, don't touch me" several times.  I very seriously considered getting up to see if he was ok, when i heard the lovely sound of vomiting and then all went quiet.  What would you have done? 

What would you have done if you were watching your husband and friend dancing during the day in a near empty dance tent and a bloke wanders up to you and starts chatting, and gets closer and closer until he's touching your leg...? 

What would you do if you saw a bloke leering at a teenage girl in a busy crowd watching a band? What if you saw him touch her bum deliberately? 

Its so important to realise this shit is going on all around you. There's ways of helping the victim, theres ways of calling someone out, but you have to quickly assess the situation and make sure its safe for you to intervene. 

Please educate yourselves and look out for each other!! 

 

[gherkin8r]

At a local Irish festival in the family campsite there was a man doing a lot of shouting from inside his tent and a woman responding defensively to a backdrop of a baby crying. Most of the men in the surrounding tents came out to see what was going on and the man became very aggressive towards us. While he was distracted one of us went to get security at the corner of the field and the man was very unceremoniously removed from the tent and taken off site.

[bombfrog]

40 minutes ago, sprocketrocket said:

I was amazed when I went running with a young (early 20s) girl that I work with, in my 40 years of living as a human person I'd never actually witnessed catcalling and wolf whistling - I just assumed it was over exaggerated on TV and stuff. We've been out a few times now and it happens every time. 

Just wave at them and say thanks ?