Anti-Harassment Policy Guidance
This year, Friendly Festivals Scotland (FFS) was established by Popgirlz Scotland, Fanny Riot and POWA Scotland as a campaign to encourage festivals in Scotland to display anti-harassment policies on their websites. As of 13th July 2022, only 2 out of 60 festivals they have surveyed currently show sexual misconduct policies online. You can view FFS’s two column dataset here which shows whether music festivals in Scotland have a clear and professional commitment toward safeguarding against sexual harassment or sexual assault on their websites.
Displaying anti-harassment policy online is an excellent first step that festivals can take in promoting a zero tolerance stance towards any kind of sexual harassment towards people of all genders. FFS aims to:
Raise awareness of the need for standardised safeguarding and prevention at Scottish music festivals
Create a dataset in an accessible format for the public to view
Highlight the link between the level of sexual assaults happening at music festivals and lack of formal prevention
You can read more about the FFS, and the prevalence of sexual violence and misconduct at British festivals here.
At the end of this document, we provide links to an Anti-Harassment Policy template created by FairPlé, and a similar guidance template created by the Association of Independent Festivals. Both organisations are happy for their templates to be used by festivals and other organisations, so please do feel free to share these!
The issue is nuanced, and preventing sexual violence and misconduct at festivals is not as simple as creating and displaying a zero-tolerance policy. Smaller festivals may not want to claim liability for the behaviour of their attendees for legal and financial reasons, should an incident occur. Additionally, larger festivals may find it harder to monitor festival-goers’ behaviour. However, a clear message of no tolerance towards unacceptable behaviour and the consequences perpetrators will face, alongside directions to where festival-goers can seek help and guidance online and on-site, can help festivals contribute to the wider cultural change we need to see in order to protect music-lovers and the wider public.
If you represent a music festival in Scotland and are interested in discussing this issue further, please email info@friendlyfests.com.
In the coming months we will be launching our Keychange Pledge for gender equality at the BIT Collective. Keychange is a Europe-wide organisation set up to encourage organisations in the music industry to pledge gender equality in order to increase equal representation in the music industry. We will be encouraging folk and traditional music festivals in Scotland, as well as other traditional arts organisations, to take their own pledges for gender equality. You can find out more about Keychange here, or email us at thebitcollective1@gmail.com to find out how your organisation can get involved!
Here is the anti-harassment policy template created by FairPlé.
Here is the anti-harassment policy guidance created by Association of Independent Festivals.
If you have been affected by any of the issues discussed above, you are not alone and you can seek help through the organisations listed here: Help and Advice — The BIT Collective.
