All kinds of music fans love to attend live performances and music festivals. However, with alcohol and swarming crowds, it is easy to lose control- and these venues can become potentially dangerous, especially for women.
Though the nature of gigs themselves may encourage freedom in their behaviour and nature – everyone crammed together in one big, euphoric, often dark setting– it does not make it acceptable to grope, grab or act in any other threatening way towards a woman without her consent. We simply cannot allow the safety and security of women at gigs to be an afterthought. You would think this does not need saying, but this is why I felt it was time to build a community like ‘Girls and Gigs’ to effect safer, more enjoyable experiences for everyone.
Public spaces such as clubs, venues, bars need to change in India. How so?
Venues in India do not take reports of sexual harassment and other threats to women as seriously as they should. There have been many many cases of assault, harassment and unfair profiling at noteworthy music venues and festivals - across India, and sadly often by venue owners themselves. Most of them go unreported or face minimal legal consequences, which is why this unacceptable behaviour is allowed to continue. This routine or call it ugly culture has to stop!
For starters, gig security needs improvement almost across the board. A standard needs to be created in the industry for safe venues- spreading the word that it is not okay to grope, threaten or harass others as well as encouraging victims to speak out, and supporters to advocate that this behaviour will not be tolerated. In an age where several music fan bases comprise a sizeable number of female admirers, as well as a growing number of female performing artists, there is no space for this type of behaviour to go unmentioned and unmanaged. The sooner live music venues realise this, the greater impact it will have on adopting these safety standards nationwide.
Though the nature of gigs themselves may encourage freedom in their behaviour and nature – everyone crammed together in one big, euphoric, often dark setting– it does not make it acceptable to grope, grab or act in any other threatening way towards a woman without her consent. We simply cannot allow the safety and security of women at gigs to be an afterthought. You would think this does not need saying, but this is why I felt it was time to build a community like ‘Girls and Gigs’ to effect safer, more enjoyable experiences for everyone.
Public spaces such as clubs, venues, bars need to change in India. How so?
Venues in India do not take reports of sexual harassment and other threats to women as seriously as they should. There have been many many cases of assault, harassment and unfair profiling at noteworthy music venues and festivals - across India, and sadly often by venue owners themselves. Most of them go unreported or face minimal legal consequences, which is why this unacceptable behaviour is allowed to continue. This routine or call it ugly culture has to stop!
For starters, gig security needs improvement almost across the board. A standard needs to be created in the industry for safe venues- spreading the word that it is not okay to grope, threaten or harass others as well as encouraging victims to speak out, and supporters to advocate that this behaviour will not be tolerated. In an age where several music fan bases comprise a sizeable number of female admirers, as well as a growing number of female performing artists, there is no space for this type of behaviour to go unmentioned and unmanaged. The sooner live music venues realise this, the greater impact it will have on adopting these safety standards nationwide.
Gender bias and how it perpetuates across music festivals in India?
From Coachella to Bacardi NH7 Weekender - the lack of safety across music festivals is very much a global issue. There is a clear lack of female representation; be it in the curation, selected artists, sound engineers, artist managers or even ground staff.
If an act happens to have more than one or two women in it, it is disappointingly branded or touted as an “all-girl band” or “female-fronted” – which isn’t even a genre! This terminology stresses that having women members in a band is a rarity and that it should be a distinguishing feature, drawing attention away from their music. If that isn’t convincing enough, let’s take a look at some cold hard statistics:
Over the past 7 installations of the NH7 Weekender, the average percentage of female artists on the roster is 12 percent. They’ve also had only one female headliner till date – Imogen Heap in 2011. VH1 Supersonic 2018 had only 14 percent of female artists. Electric Daisy Carnival 2016 had a single female act, and zero female headliners across its bill. The Magnetic Fields Festival 2018, with the highest number of female acts, stands at a modest figure of about 28 per cent. Yet the overall gender parity across Indian music festivals remains dismal and very little is being done by the curators, managers and artists to combat the difference. The above mentioned data is based on the organisers’ official line-up over the years. So, for brighter and diverse festivals of the future— measured by gender balance, genre diversity, ethnic background etc —all the change, has to begin with us... as music lovers! This is what I’m gunning for Girls and Gigs to achieve over time.
From Coachella to Bacardi NH7 Weekender - the lack of safety across music festivals is very much a global issue. There is a clear lack of female representation; be it in the curation, selected artists, sound engineers, artist managers or even ground staff.
If an act happens to have more than one or two women in it, it is disappointingly branded or touted as an “all-girl band” or “female-fronted” – which isn’t even a genre! This terminology stresses that having women members in a band is a rarity and that it should be a distinguishing feature, drawing attention away from their music. If that isn’t convincing enough, let’s take a look at some cold hard statistics:
Over the past 7 installations of the NH7 Weekender, the average percentage of female artists on the roster is 12 percent. They’ve also had only one female headliner till date – Imogen Heap in 2011. VH1 Supersonic 2018 had only 14 percent of female artists. Electric Daisy Carnival 2016 had a single female act, and zero female headliners across its bill. The Magnetic Fields Festival 2018, with the highest number of female acts, stands at a modest figure of about 28 per cent. Yet the overall gender parity across Indian music festivals remains dismal and very little is being done by the curators, managers and artists to combat the difference. The above mentioned data is based on the organisers’ official line-up over the years. So, for brighter and diverse festivals of the future— measured by gender balance, genre diversity, ethnic background etc —all the change, has to begin with us... as music lovers! This is what I’m gunning for Girls and Gigs to achieve over time.
A few words about the campaign itself?
As the intro says. At the heart of the campaign Girls And Gigs' that, venues, concerts and festivals are not just about the music and momentary bliss... but also about fostering 'community and togetherness'. Spaces which have to be equal, transparent and accountable. As of now we are reaching out to three target groups, who are at an intersection of the issue itself.
Gig goers and makers
Work with gig goers to spread the word that it is not okay to grope, threaten or harass others. Encourage victims to speak out, and supporters to advocate that this behaviour will not be tolerated.
Venues
Work with venues to ensure they take reports of sexual harassment and other threats to women seriously. Work with festival organizers and venue owners to create a standard in the industry for safe venues, and campaign to get the standard adopted nationwide.
Bands/Artists/DJs
Getting the above, onboard - to first recognise the need for safety standards and also motivating the audience, be they women, n.b. or men.
At a venue, how do you see this manifesting?
Girls and Gigs is about realising community and togetherness, where no one is made to feel unsafe or margnizalised. But this motivation has to resonate in reality, at a local level first. Grassroots! We will gather momentum at a national level, over time. The emphasis behind our actions, is on the 'independence and celebration of difference'. In order to realise this, we need active players (motivated artists, public, organisers etc) who believe in the cause and work together. Here's a basic rundown of what volunteering with Girls and Gigs will entail: Depending on what your profile, motivation or skill-set is.
After signing up, let's start a new dialogue! Currently, we are speaking to various gig and festival goers (women and men) about what they can do individually and collectively - call it policy formation stage! The most urgent objective is to prevent sexual assault or maltreatment at live music events. Over time we want to ensure greater female involvement - by reaching out to women owned establishments and female artists for organising events. While doing so, we want to encourage people individually to develop a progressive code of conduct. At a venue this will manifest in various ways - via interpersonal dialogue, the music, visuals, flyers, live-streams etc.
Plus, talking to venues and festivals - the demand for safety standards at live music gigs. Liaising tour managers, artists, band members, DJs and ground-staff - about any help they may require, and acquainting them with our working policies. Depending on the venue and public interaction, we aim to a m p l i f y the change over time. Yes, there's a lot to cover and manifest, step by step!
