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All the usual evils of society play out at music festivals. It’s just that there everyone seems to think it’s okay.
It wasn’t the dust or cold that left me rattled after my first OppiKoppi Music Festival in Limpopo last weekend. It was being relentlessly harassed and groped by men.
Walking around the farm where the festival is held, my female friends and I found ourselves circled by drunk men who seemed to think our mere presence entitled them to attention.
What I find shocking – and probably shouldn’t – is that not one of these men realised that this kind of scenario is extremely frightening for women in a country where femicide is five times the global rate.
Being followed, pulled, touched, catcalled and sexually harassed while trying to enjoy the music it became clear that festivals aren’t designed to be safe spaces for women.
While one man was staring at me ominously, his friend pulled my arm aggressively twice. I replayed the frightening scene in my head for days.
In the moment all I thought was that they’d follow us and no one would be able to find us in the dark. I had to make a scene to get them to leave.
The truth is that women can’t lose their inhibitions and have a full festival experience because of the men who see these events as a licence to be vile.
Music festivals urgently need to engage women and actively try to create a safe space like the one we saw at Afropunk.
In 2016 Swedish police investigated reports of more than 32 sexual assaults at festivals and last year four rapes and 23 sexual assaults were reported from the country’s biggest festival, Bråvalla.
Bråvalla has since taken the bold decision to continue – but without any men. Swedish presenter Emma Knyckare proposed the idea on social media: “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 learnt how to behave themselves?”
Or is it? Can we be safe only when segregated from men? This suggests that men can’t help sexually assaulting women and it’s up to women to stay away from them.
And removing men really does nothing to solve the issue in the long term.
Men need to understand the consequences of their actions from a very young age. Issues of consent need to be drilled into them by their parents, guardians and teachers.
Men need to start talking to one another and making conscious efforts to do better. The mere presence of a woman does not entitle them to our bodies.
